Re:Circuits
by Boyzilla
Summary: When Subaru was discovering whether or not he could use magic, Puck told him it seemed like he didn't have a gate. Despite being told that it would be useless for him to even try to use magic since he didn't have one, he attempted anyway, something switched on, something like electric circuits. Perhaps, just perhaps, he could actually be a hero and save everyone.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note** : A small fan fiction that I've wanted to do because I couldn't get the idea of this what-if off my head, I had this chapter written for a few weeks and was deciding whether or not to publish it. Note that this is not going to be a very long fan fiction, just a short one, and won't get as updated as Saiyan of Equestria or Life of a Zero Dragon! Or any of the others for that matter. Still, it's a good idea in my personal opinion.

 **Summary:** When Subaru was discovering whether or not he could use magic, Pack told him it seemed like he didn't have a gate. Despite being told that it would be useless for him to even try to use magic since he didn't have one, he attempted anyway, something switched on, something like electric circuits. Perhaps, just perhaps, he could actually be a hero and save everyone.

* * *

 _Re:Circuits_

Chapter 1: Activation By Pain

"By the way, what kind of magic does Emilia-tan use?"

This was Natsuki Subaru's question to a puff, cat-looking, pink colored spirit floating a few meters above the ground in a relaxed position.

Natsuki Subaru, or just normally called, Subaru, is a seven-teen-year-old Japanese male with short black eye and brown eyes. The man usually wore a common tracksuit, but he had employed himself under the local mansion lord's service as a reward for saving Emilia, thus he wore a butler's black outfit fitted to his size.

However...

death...

Death...

DEATH...

DEATH!

Time, and time again, he's died, and time and time again, he's returned by death.

Subaru had come into this fantasy world from the peaceful and safe realm of modern Japan and was wholly unprepared. Luckily, or perhaps, unluckily, he had the ability to return to a 'save point' like all those RPGs he used to play. Unfortunately for him, death is still very, very painful, both physically and mentally. He was both blessed and cursed, unable to speak about it without dying, numerous times he tried to gain the approval of the Mansion's residents, and numerous times he's died at the hands of those he had loyalty towards.

But this time was different.

This time, he would gain the trust of everyone.

This time, he will find that shaman that would attack the mansion!

This time, everyone would survive and a happy ending will occur!

The spirit floating in the air replied, "Technically Lia isn't really a magic-user," then he turned to face Subaru, "That goes for her contract with me, too." Once Puck finished saying that he floating down quickly, spun around the seven-teen-year-old and exclaimed, "She uses spirit arts!"

"So those who use magic and spirit arts are different..." Natsuki Subaru said to Puck.

Puck, the little spirit, answered while raising a paw, "Magic users cast magic with their own mana, but those who use spirit arts draw mana in the atmosphere."

"And how are those different, sensei!?" He questioned.

"Basically, it depends on whether you use a gate."

"A gate?"

Puck curled his long tail to make a circle in front of the spirit's face, "Mana passes through a gate within your body, through the gate you both draw mana in and expel it out."

Subaru nodded in understanding, thinking back to his own world's video game terms. "Ah, so it's like a spigot for mp..."

The pink spirit pointed a paw to Subaru's head, "You should also have one, Subaru."

"You mean I can cast magic too?!" The human answered in excitement at the prospect of doing magic.

"Want me to figure out your attribute? Magic-users are divided into four attributes, fire, water, wind, and earth attributes..." Puck said as the spirit pressed the tip of his tail on Subaru's forehead.

A bright white light circle appeared on his head, the sound of humming magic filling the air around them.

"Whoa, it's totally a magic sound effect!" He commented.

Then...

Puck released his tail, blinking, for once, shocked about something.

"Huh?" Subaru said he's never seen the spirit shocked at something before.

"Well, Puck?" Emilia, the white-hued long haired spirit-user came walking towards them, having heard most of the conversation, "What's his attribute, Puck?" She said happily.

Puck recollected himself, returning to a bright cheerful expression, floating upside down he answered.

"Subaru surprised me, it looked like he didn't have a gate! But I felt something like earth, but more refined!"

"Refined... Refined earth?" Subaru questioned, "So does that mean I can do any earth spells?"

"I think it'll actually be useless for you to try magic if your gate is all smashed up like that," Puck said.

"What! But, magic will be super helpful in tons of things I'm sure!" He retorted.

"Well everyone can use magic," Emilia said, "But most people don't know any spells despite having a gate."

"Still, can we try anyway?" He said to Puck.

"Sure, I'll give you a beginner's course!"

* * *

Puck floated right in front of Subaru, beginning the explanation on what the spirit will do to add the young and excited human.

"I'll act as a support, and use the mana inside you, so the magic will come from your gate." He said, then looked to Emilia who stood to the side, "Lia, on the off-chance that Subaru's magic goes out of control and explodes, you should step away for safety."

Emilia walks a dozen or so meters away.

"Hey, that only happens if I screw up really badly right!?" He exclaimed dramatically.

Puck turned his head, "I doubt you can use magic, but if you can be so optimistic like this maybe you'll succeed out of pure luck!" He began, then continued, "Now, visualize the mana in you then expel a part of it through your gate, out of your body."

"Visualizing I can do. Fantasizing is what I do best!"

Puck began to focus on being a support of mana to aid in Subaru... But he couldn't find the human's gate. "That's weird..." He stated.

The Spirit focused deeper into Subaru, scouting out the boy's body for the gate, but instead, his mana came across something else, multiple lines that were embedded into every part of him, no, they were not lines, more like a different nervous system. He prodded the lines, pushing a big of mana into it which one of the lines flicked on brightly-

"Aggggggh!" Subaru started screaming in agony, causing Puck to retract back his mana.

"Subaru!" Emilia yelled in concern as she came running.

Then, he collapsed.

* * *

'Omm omm omm...' Sabaru thought to himself as he tried visualizing his mana, but how the hell was he suppose to do that? He tried thinking of his mystical blue energy that surrounding a white orb, but that all that happened, just his imagination.

'Damn, what am I suppose to do- Oh wait, I think Puck suppose to- whoa!' He saw something, like a flash, his vision seemed to guide him to an image of dormant lines, no, it would be more so correct to call them _circuits_ from the insides of a computer. Only a quick look at them and he could count twenty-seven in total.

Then, one of them lit up, electricity coursing through him- It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!

"Aggggggggh!" He yelled and collapsed., eyes shut, he felt a sort of energy course through him, but it had no direction, nowhere to go, it became to pile in him.

'No- I can't die, not here! I have to, I have to save everyone! I gotta save them!' He thought as he clenched his teeth, using his own determination and willpower in a futile effort to push back the energy in him.

 **"Trace, off."**

A voice... And the pain stopped...

But with it... Came images...

 _Something blurry, incredibly so, a blurry image of something like a sword._

 _A never ending fire... Burning everything in its path..._

 _A hill, a hill on a dusk sunset... Covered in blades..._

Then Subaru opened his eyes, finding himself on a wooden bench with Emilia and Puck over him, the former with a concerned expression.

"What... Happened?" He said, the pain now but a distant memory.

"Well, If I had to explain it," The pink ball spirit, Puck began to answer as he sat on the human's chest, "You have a very different gate, it's like split apart into multiple lines, each line when activated draws on your mana. When one of them turned on, instead of being brought out through a normal gate, it fills up and waits for direction. But you had none, so it kept filling up and that's why you collapsed."

He got up easily, a little numb, but otherwise perfectly fine. "Well thanks, I should get back to work."

Emilia eyes widened, "How you are up...?" She mumbled, having first believed he wouldn't have any mana, "You should take the day off, using your gate for the first time can be hard."

"No, I can't waste a single day!" He said, getting up on his feet. He patted his chest with a fist, "I got a lot of work to do still and I don't want the maid sisters worrying! So, sorry!"

"You shouldn't say sorry, it's a lot better to hear a thank you..."

He looked to her and smiled, "Okay..."

Natsuki Subaru looked back to the mansion, 'Well, everything's still going fine! I can do this, I will save everyone.'

 _The image of a large fire briefly appeared in his mind._

He grabbed his head from an ache, 'That's strange... I don't remember that at all...' He thought to himself.

"Subaru, are you sure you're alright?" Emilia asked.

"I'm fine!" He brightly said, "With your concern, I could run a thousand laps around the mansion if you so asked!" The Japanese man exclaimed.

And so, he ran off to continue his duties.

Unaware that at this point, everything changed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note** : Glad to know there's such a demand for this kind of Fanfiction, then again, there's only like.. What… 4 crossovers with Re:Zero counting this one? So of course people are hungry for this type of genre at the moment.

In any case, please enjoy, if you got any questions, feel free to ask in a review. I'll answer it in the next chapter, or if you request my answer be via PM, I'll do it that way for you.

Take notice, in the first few chapters, events may play similar to the anime until the Butterfly Effect goes into effect.

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 2: The Lines are Circuits

Natsuki Subaru laid his back against the comfortable, blissful soft mattress of the bed. The young man now dressed in his modern tracksuit which was surprisingly quite well to sleep in despite the suit's history in this unforgiving yet beautiful fantasy world. Subaru took in a deep breath before releasing it, raising his hand into the air as his thoughts traveled out.

"I guess that's all I can expect on the first day…" He trailed off. "I've earned quite a bit of trust from Ram and Rem, I think."

He frowned, briefly remembering his first life in this mansion, "But the problem is that shaman's attack… How do I fight that?"

He then strangely recalled his magic lessons with Puck, "And what's up with those images I saw? I've learned that nothing is simple in this world, did transporting to this world cause my gate Puck talked about to split into multiple lines?"

A silence in his room, nothing but his breathing heard or the wind blowing from the outside.

He stood back up from the bed, "First things first, the shaman!" He exclaimed with determination filling his eyes, he walked out into the hallway, looked briefly left and right, before walking just a few paces before opening a random door.

And there lies the entire library, with its ever present guardian, Beatrice, a small blond-haired women wearing a red dress, sitting on a lone stool surrounding by rows of columns filled with books.

"How do you keep finding my room," She said with annoyance, only sparing a second to glance at him before returning to the book in her hands.

"It's my convenient power," He joked in reply, "But I came here to ask you something; I want to know something about shamans," Subaru questioned as he closed the door behind him while entering the room and moving next to the librarian.

"You want to know more about shamans?" Beatrice questioned with a small bit of curiosity as he looked up to him.

"Yes, how do you avoid curses?" He questioned.

"There's no way," She bluntly answered before looking back towards the tome.

"Huh?"

"Once a curse is activated, there isn't any way to undo it, I suppose," She closed her eyes, "Once it's activated, that's it. That's what curses are."

Subaru blinked, before beginning to say put in thought-

 _But if he got cursed, he could flood his magic circuits with od to flush out the curse's effects on his body, which would dispel the curse or severely weaken it to non-lethal levels if enough od is provided._

Subaru clutched his head, there it was again. But that was actually relevant to the current topic, only, he had no idea what the terms that strange thought actually meant.

"However," Beatrice continued, "Before they're activated curses are but simple spells so I can easily undo them."

Her eyes widened as she raised her head and sniffed the air.

"The scent of the witch… Wait… Something else too…"

"You know, Rem mentioned that, too," Subaru replied to Beatrice comment, sniffing himself-

Wait, that's strange, he could smell something on him, but it was hard to describe, it was like his sense was smell was muddled or his nose was stuffed after not cleaning it out for so long. But the smell, it was a odd, yet discomforting smell, and it surrounded him.

He looked down to Beatrice, deciding he could investigate himself later, "Who is this Witch?"

And for the rest of the time there, Beatrice explained about the Jealous Witch, one who had absorbed all the other witches of the sins and drained half the world of its magic. Then, he learned of Emilia's described similarities to the Jealous Witch, Satella, but smiled when he pieced together that Emilia must have used the name to draw attention away from herself.

* * *

The following day… Was a bit of a hassle.

Everything starting out great in the morning, but soon the pain of stress and overworking got to our japanese protagonist, not to mention the build up of emotional pain caused by his previous constant deaths over the course of his stay here.

By the end of it, it was Emilia-tan who came to Natsuki Subaru's rescue, with some comfort, a bit of lap pillow, and letting out of tears and sorrow, the man recovered his mental state and resumed his work.

That night, after some self-patronizing of being like a little kid towards Beatrice, now pet named Beako, he learned more about how shamans apply curses and that the librarian could remove them before activation.

One important factor was discovering that curses applied through physical contact.

 _Which was untrue, as there were projectile curses such as Gandr which could be aimed and fired._

There was also another one of those episodes that occurred, they started happening ever since he used magic… Well, used would be the wrong term for it, for the first time.

But first, the villagers, the shaman must be there!

It was a little difficult to convince Rem, and by proxy, Ram, to let him go, with them, to the village a day early than before.

"And finally, the final excerise!" Subaru started, "Swing your arms wide open, then cross them in front of you as you take slow, deep breaths. In… And out.." He breathed in, the surrounding villagers doing the same.

"And finally… Victory!" He exclaimed loudly, bringing his arms into the air.

"Victory!" The villagers repeated after him in chorus.

This was his plan for everyone to touch him so to figure out who exactly was the shaman.

After the ending of the game, he smiled.

'Okay, everyone's touched me now,' He thought to himself.

"Barusu," Ram's voice echoed from behind him.

Subaru turned around, looking at the twin maids, Rem and Ram.

They were of equal heightly, and near identical appearance with the exception of Rem having blue hair, while Ram having red. While they make look the same, their personalities had their own quirks and differences that he was figuring out.

"What sort of game is this," Ram questioned his methods with the villagers recently.

"Radio calisthenics," He replied, though it was actually a method of popular short routine morning exercises back on Earth. He bowed, "I think my method of if being enjoyable to both men and women old and young is my secret to my long years of success!" He exclaimed cheerfully.

"Who cares," Ram answered plainly.

"Ram-chi, that's cold," A young boy's voice spoke up.

"Ram-chi, that's mean," His friend spoke up next to him.

"Ram-chi, you're scary," Another continued the line of comments.

Ram looked at them in surprise, before her expression went monotoned as she glanced up towards Subaru, "Did you teach these children to call me that," She said in annoyance.

"Well, it was more like…" Hatsuki Subaru put a finger to his chin in a wise manner, "I wanted to spread some friendliness around?" He answered.

She sighed, "I don't mind, but what about Rem?" Ram looked towards her sister.

The boys then went on too say…

"Rem-rin?"

"Rem-rin?"

"Rem-rin-rin?"

"Huh?" Rem said with a puzzled expression.

Ram sighed again, Barusu was starting to get irritating at times. "And did you enjoy the village trip like you wanted?"

"Nothing to worry about there," He confirmed, "Once Muraosa patted me on the shoulder at the end, my trip was complete." He finished, then his clothes were tucked on by a small hand.

Subaru kneeled down to the little girl's level, "What's up? If you want to say something, out with it." He said kindly.

"Um…" She pointed towards the forest. "Over there."

The man with the ability to return by death looked over to his senior twins for permission.

"Have your way a bit longer…" Ram gave in.

"If you say so, sister," Rem commented.

"Alright, I owe you both, senpai!" He said as he followed the children towards the forest edge, where a small black puppy rushed over and under the wooden fencing and into the arms of the young purple-haired girl.

"Oh right, this even happened too," He trailed off, raising a hand towards the dog only for it to grow at him, "Man, and it still doesn't like me after three times…"

"Maybe it just hates you," One of the kids said.

The dog relaxed and slept in the girl's hand, "Alright, now's my chance!" Subaru said as he felt the dog's paws and fur, it's smooth and warm hairs brushing against his naked fingers. "Oh yes, that's the feeling I've been waiting for!"

Then the dog bite him on the hand.

"Ouch! I-"

Something affected him, the lines, those _circuits_ in his body felt like something revolting invaded him. But he couldn't tell where, it felt like it was coming everywhere at once. Subaru had now long since boxed out the voices around him.

'D-damn, what, was I cursed? This feeling never happened before!' He thought to himself, then the feeling vanished, like it was laid dormant.

He took a deep breath, hearing the last of the comments and quickly making a joke to cover himself.

'I should get to Beako as soon as I can, but I have to keep my cool, I don't want Rem and Ram losing trust in me. One things for sure, those lines Puck talked about, they're more like circuits if anything. I know they're circuits. I'll call them that till I figure out more…'

Later, he helped bring the spices and ingredinents back to the mansion, wished the mansion's Lord off, watched him fly around with breathtaking magical ability, then made his way instantly… To his room.

He didn't bother dressing out of his clothes yet, he would talk to Beatrice in a few minutes.

But first.

He took a deep breath, he had to figure out what these circuits were.

Natsuki Subaru begun to visual his mana going through a gate… But like before with Puck, nothing occurred. The young man decided to change tactics, and visualized that moment of the image when those circuits flicked on.

He could perceive the image, but nothing happened.

Damnit, how was he suppose to do magic if his gate circuits never obeyed him?

It's not like he could just _switch them on_ or something, he had magic, he felt it before! It could prove useful, he could prove useful! He's done nothing but be absolutely useless despite his efforts and now there was something that could bring in his own advantages!

He didn't want to stand in the sidelines!

A brief image of Emilia dying, of Rem dying, of everyone going mad against him when he failed. The possibilities of the shaman killing everyone…

The sound of a sword clanging against metal.

His mouth moved on his own accord.

The words coming out of his lips.

"Trace… On,"

A single line, no, a single _magic circuit_ flicked on.

But it still had no direction, no way of doing anything, so it just slowly began filling with what he presumed was mana.

It didn't hurt as much as the first time, there was a bit of pain, but it was nothing compared to what he's experienced before. It was nothing compared to having your guts hanging out of your body or your ribs crushed under the weight of a heavy flail.

Still, he learned how to turn his mana on… Now to turn it off, and he still remembered the first words he heard that day with Puck.

"Trace, off."

With that, the magic circuits shut off, the mana dispersing harmlessly.

Subaru released a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Great! I'm making progress with magic at least! Now, time to have my nightly meeting with Beako!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note** : I might be updating quickly now, but it's all hype right now. Don't be surprised if I slow down later due to my steam running low. Might work on one of my other stories then. Anyhow, thanks for all the support you've given me! If you enjoyed Re:Circuits, be sure to check out my account for more unique crossovers. I tend to do crossovers between series that not many try to write.

 **Just me:** If I revealed on how he caught the 'Emiya' complex, it wouldn't be mysterious now would it?

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 3: Grasping Courage

Natsuki Subaru raised a hand towards the twin maid sisters, Ram and Rem, a small bitten pattern on the edge of his palm that he showed them. The reason why he was doing this was because of the recent discovery, that puppy dog from before had been what he presumed was the shaman and cursed him. But if that was the case, those children that hanged out with it were in mortal danger.

He couldn't let that pass.

 _He had to save them._

"Beatrice said the one who gave me this wound is responsible for cursing me. It was the dog that the kids were playing with!" Subaru exclaimed.

Rem and Ram looked up in attention, surprised by this new information.

"That dog-looking thing cursed everyone it bit! If I do nothing, they'll be in danger." He looked to them, he couldn't tell whether or not they would help him or not. It was understandable, it had only been two days from their perspective.

"If you don't trust me, you can come along," He said to them. "But we can't leave Emilia alone here, so only one of you can come."

Rem spoke up first, "You're making up your own rules, and if we are to obey Roswaal-sama's orders, there is no reason for either of us to go with you."

He closed his eyes, he knew that "No, there's not." Then he opened them, "But was that the order only order Roswaal gave me?" Subaru pulled out his trump card.

Ram, keeping her monotoned expression, answered him, "Very well, Barusu. I'll allow you to act on your judgment."

"Nee-sama," Rem said in disagreement.

"Rem will accompany you," Ram finished.

"Just what I wanted to hear!" Subaru exclaimed, but inwardly sighed in relief, he would never have been able to do this on his own without the possibility of dying.

The two sisters began speaking to one another, Subaru drowning out their voices as it wasn't in his busy to peeve on such a conversation, but one voice made his heart flutter with its sound.

"Subaru, are you going somewhere?"

It was Emilia, the silver-haired half-elf began walking down the stairs in what seemed to be in sleeping garments, "I heard loud voices, so I came down to see what was going on… What happened?"

He didn't want her to be in danger, "Something might be happening," He kept his answer vaguely. "But you don't need to worry"

"It looks like you're off to do something dangerous again," Was her reply that his statements.

"We were just wrapping up a dispute on that particular topic," He said, avoiding to truthfully answer.

"I can't stop you, can I?" Emilia-tan said.

"I guess not, no…" Subaru scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "In fact, if you do, it'd be a hindrance in several ways…"

She sighed, "Fine, fine, I get it. I won't stop you." Emilia smiled, "It's probably no use telling you not to be rash or reckless, too, right?"

"Depending on what happens…" Subaru smiled back, agreeing with Emilia that he can be quite that. "I mean, it's not like I want to do any of that."

 _That hadn't stopped him from trying to save others before._

Subaru ignored that line of thought, though he also agreed that was like him.

Emilia pressed a hand on him, causing his heart to skip a beat, "May the blessings of the spirits be with you."

"Eh, say what?" The Japanese man questioned.

"It's a prayer to send you off. It means "come back safely"," She said while looking at him.

"Got it, Emilia-tan."

With that, he and Rem head off towards the village.

* * *

The dark and eerie atmosphere put a chill down Subaru's spine, but he was too determined to turn back from the mere presence of darkness alone. He and Rem had arrived just short a few minutes ago, and also they spotted a wandering villager holding a torch looking for something.

"Has something happened?" Rem asked the villager who turned to face her.

Subaru had a sinking feeling he already knew the answer.

"Y-Yeah… Several of the village children have gone missing. All the adults are looking for them."

"Was I too late?" Subaru questioned himself, before remembering a certain detail on where the puppy dog he met was located. "There!" He exclaimed, running towards the edge of the forest.

"Subaru-kun?" Rem said, before chasing after him, the villager following them.

They rushed towards the forest line, before stopping just short of the fencing. There were a few glowing crystals aligned on the trees, in which Subaru took notice one of them was shut off.

Rem filled in the answers.

"The barrier is broken," She said.

"What happens when the barrier is broken?" Subaru couldn't help but ask.

"Mabeasts can cross the boundary, mabeasts are creatures of the witch's creation. They're enemies of humanity and they have magic powers. They live gregariously in the forest."

"Gregariously… You mean there are tons more of those dogs in there?" His eyes trailed down towards the dirt below, spotting the footsteps of the children. "The kids are in the forest. Tell everyone!" Subaru shouted to the villager.

"Right!" The villager yelled before rushing off.

Natsuki Subaru looked towards the forest, his heart filled with courage and determination to _save_ those kids. If couldn't fathom what would happen if he failed-

 _An endless flame, countless people crying out to save them, but they all burned nonetheless._

He felt that sword clashes against metal insides of him, but he forced the feeling back down, no need to activate his gate's circuits.

The man swallowed nervously, then made his towards the forest.

Rem stopped him, "Subaru-kun, what are you…"

"I have to go save those kids!" He exclaimed more so for himself than to answer.

"Wait! You can't make that decision on your Roswaal-sama away from home, can you be sure that this isn't a ruse to divert attention from the mansion?!"

"What do we do, then?" He glanced back to her, "Ignore kids who are in trouble right now, go back to the mansion, and tighten security? If you won't care when all villagers are dead tomorrow, I guess that's an option."

That made her pause her next retort.

He fully faced her, "Rem, let's go. We're the only ones who can do something about this."

"Why go so far… Why should this village matter to you?" She questioned him again.

But Subaru was ready for this, he had gone through so much so many times that he practically knew the village by heart.

"You know, Petra… When she grows up, she wants to make clothes in the capital. Lucas wants to succeed the village's best woodcutter. Mildo wants to make a crown of flowers in the fields and give it to his mother. Meina is going to have a baby sister soon. And the brothers, Dyne and Cain, are always fighting over who'll marry Petra." He spoke softly.

Natsuki Subaru smiled warmly, they were memories to him, "They do matter to me, I know their names, faces, and what they want to do in the future." He looked to Rem, "And I promised them we'd do radio calisthenics again tomorrow. I keep my promises, and I make sure others keep theirs. I'm going to do radio calisthenics with those kids again, so I'm going in there," He finished.

Rem lowered her head, thoughtful, before raising it, "Very well, my orders were to keep an eye on you."

"Ah, that's right," Subaru remembered, "Make sure I don't do anything shady!"

"Yes," Rem said.

Subaru looked away, then heard the noise of something heavy and familiar, he glanced towards Rem and saw the huge flail in her hands.

 _Structural Grasp_.

He flinched, a barrage of knowledge entered him without warning by just looking at the weapon within Rem's hands, but he had no experience with such things and most of it flew over his head.

Subaru shook his head to recollect himself, "Rem, isn't that-"

"It's for protection," Is all she said before entering the forest.

"Alright…" He trailed off.

* * *

Natsuki Subaru hovered his fingers above a small blond girl, Petra's, mouth to see if she was breathing. He himself released a breath he was holding as the child exhaled air.

"She's alive, they're alive!" He exclaimed happily.

"No, they're still breathing now, but they are very weak," Rem corrected him. "If left alone…"

"Weak… The curse?" He questioned.

 _He could think of a number of no*** ph******s that had the potential of ridding a curse like this._

"Tch," He grunted, "Rem, can't you undo it?" He asked the blue-haired girl.

"I lack the skill for this, if only my sister were here to see them…" A light enveloped her hands as mana washed over the children, "But I will cast a healing spell to comfort them. When they're calm, we'll carry them back."

"Okay, I'll… Damn, I'm so useless," He patronized himself.

He couldn't do anything, he couldn't beat anything, couldn't do any magic-

 _But that's not what he does, for he is not a fighter, he is a creator. His worst enemy is not something in front of him, no, it was himself that he fought against._

'They were getting worse, why is this happening right now!?' Subaru thought to himself.

"Subaru?" A weak voice came from below his feet, causing him to look down towards it.

"You're awake, Petra?" He questioned, surprised at the girl's willpower. "All right, good. You're a tough girl," He complimented her. "Don't overdo it, though, I'll take you back home, where you can say goodbye to the pain."

"One is…" She interrupted him, "Still… in the…" Before she fell back to unconsciousness.

"Hey, what'd you say!? Petra?" He said in alarm, before looking up and counting the number of children here.

The one that held the puppy, the one with long purple hair, she wasn't here!

"Damn it, she's right. I don't see the little girl with the braid!" He got up on his feet.

Rem looked to him, "Please, wait! It's too dangerous. And if the mabeasts took her, it's already…"

"I get what you say! I do!" He yelled, "She showed concern for her friend before asking for my help, she put her friend before herself! I want to respect Petra's feelings. If you take something on, you should make the effort to take it all on."

Rem closed her eyes, "If you're too greedy, you might take on more than you carry back," She warned him.

"That's why you're with me, isn't it?" He said, looking to her.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"The kids need you now, when the villagers show up, leave the kids with them and follow me." He began to go but was stopped.

"We don't know the threat our opponent presents, or when the villagers will arrive. And at worst, there is a chance I can't find you."

"Don't worry, even if no one else does, I know you can smell me. Because of the lingering scent of the witch."

"How much do you know-"

"No idea! Frankly, I have more questions than I can hope to have answers for," He kneeled to her and grabbed her hand in promise, "Just like there are tons of things you want to ask me, there are tons of things I want to ask you. So when this is all taken care of, let's talk until our voices are hoarse." He said.

Subaru continued, "I trust you, Rem, so I want to act in a way that makes you trust me. I'll make a promise right now!"

She sighed, "Very well. The promise is made. I will ask you many questions, so be ready."

Natsuki Subaru trudged through the dense foliage of the forest, keeping his eyes and ears open to anything nearby. He was scared, but he was also determined to save that girl.

"If the one that cursed the kids really was that dog from today, there's no way I can lose… Right?" he said with uncertainty.

The wind blew, and the smell of something foul, yet like an animal, came with it.

He went in a bush and spotted the feet of what looked like the child he was searching for.

Subaru closed his eyes, "Is it a trap?"

 _Yes._

"Tch… I should do something to prepare then…" He looked around and grabbed a long stick. "What's this going to do… It's just a puppy right?"

He closed his eyes, trying to think of something. 'Well, in anime and some games the player character enhances his weapon with magic… Maybe I can try that?'

"Trace… On,"

The sound of a sword clashing against metal.

A single magic circuit switching on.

If his mana is made in his circuit, then he just has to move the mana in the circuit that's made outside into the stick.

 _But it won't handle much, a simple reinforcement would increase its durability but it would be unreliable in battle._

"Reinforcement…" Subaru said quietly, feeling what he thought was mana course from his circuits, along his arms, and into the stick.

He shut it off, "Trace, off."

He looked to see the stick seemed… Better, marginally.

The Japanese man gulped, before leaving the bush and rushing to the girl.

Unaware of what lies in wait.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Once again, thanks for all the support! Remember as I said in chapter 2, the first few chapters are similar to their canon counterpart until Subaru learns enough of his abilities that it may trigger a bigger butterfly effect.

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 4: Reinforcement against Curses

"Hey, hey are you alright?" Subaru said as he checked the girl for a vital sign, sighing in relief as he discovered she was still breathing. "Alright, gotta get you out of here-"

The bushes around him rustled with noise, drawing his attention as he stood up with the magically reinforced stick in his hands.

"Damn it, come on out you cursed dog!" He yelled.

Then, out from the shadows, walked out a canine-like creature the size of a man, teeth baring with a growl escaping its jaws while crimson-glowing eyes stared at him.

"This… This is just unfair!" Was Subaru's comment, he looked behind him at the unconscious child, "Gr… Come at me you mutt! I'm ready for you!" He quickly undressed his outer butler shirt, wrapping it around his unarmed arm while his right held the stick towards the mabeast.

The dog disappeared into the shadows, an eerie silence accompanying it before it suddenly reappeared and charged at him.

"Take this!" The human yelled as he swung the stick, bashing the incoming mabeast's jaw away, the improvised weapon surprisingly not breaking apart from the impact. Noticing the creature was stunned, Subaru grabbed the stick with two hands and struck with all his might against the beast's skull.

"Awwo!" It whines in pain from the harsh blow, before swiping a paw in retaliation.

With the experience of fighting foes with superior speed, Subaru managed to lean away just in time to avoid being sliced by the dangerous claws. He quickly brought up the stick horizontally, holding both sides as the mabeast's snapping jaw was blocked the stick. The traveler from another world pushed back with as much strength as he could muster, slamming the side of the mabeast's head against a fallen log.

The stick snapped in half in his hands, Subaru quickly brought up one side of it that had a sharp point from the breaking and stabbed the mabeast's skull right through with it. The beast gave out a gurgling noise as blood splurted forth from its wounds before it slumped and died.

Subaru lay two hands on the end of the stick that now lay stabbed through the mabeast's cranium, the man taking deep breaths before standing back upright. He turned around and took notice of all the red glowing eyes in the shadow.

He looked at the remains of his weapon, it was useless.

"Oh come on… Durability numbers must be low as hell in this world…" He commented in a lighthearted mood to cheer himself up.

A grabbed a branch from the fallen log and tore it off as quickly as he could, then he stood between the small girl and the mabeast pack.

"Trace… On," He said, gripping the thick branch with both hands.

A magic circuit switched on in reply, od from inside his body being converted in prana, which in turn was directed by Subaru in the Reinforcement spell applied to his new improvised weapon.

Not that he knew any of those terms.

Once he felt he reached the limit thanks to _Structural Grasp_ , Subaru switched off his circuit.

"Trace, off."

He glared towards the back, they strangely stood their distance from him while he was doing the spell. Not that he realized that.

"If you want to fight, bring it on!" He yelled in challenge.

With that, all of them charged at him, his grip tightening on the branch in preparation to swing it.

Then the mabeasts were all smashed away by a large flail.

He looked towards the direction of the flail, "Rem!"

"The children have all been taken to safety," Rem answered him, before looking to the branch in his hands. "I see that you've tried doing something useful, Subaru-kun."

He took notice more were incoming, "Watch out-"

Then were batted away by the swinging of the flail likes flies to a fly swatter, the following one bashed through the skull with her fist alone.

His mouth was agape, he nearly dropped the improvised weapon, "Y-You're strong!"

"I'm not sure if that's a nice thing to say to a girl, Subaru-kun," Rem replied to his exasperated comment.

He dropped his weapon in favor of picking up the braid-haired child, "No other words to describe you, let's go!" Subaru yelled while carrying the girl. He stopped abruptly next to Rem, "So, Rem, would you be able to take them all out in one shot, by chance?"

She looked towards the pack that continued to growl and stay their distance, "We are outnumbered. With this many, our situation is dire."

He sighed, "Yeah, I guess it would be…"

He narrowed his eyes in thought, 'Could I try using my magic to reinforce Rem's weapon? No, I'll need time to do that and I doubt she needs extra durability anyway.'

 _But that was not the only use of reinforcement._

Subaru shook his head, while that strange thought was good to know for future experimentation, it was not helpful in this situation.

"Then… There!' He looked towards the center of the mabeast pack, in which Rem swung her flail and created a cloak of blown up dust for them to move through.

He ran, ran as fast as his legs could carry them, the girl in his arms bumping against his chest as he continued to run. Subaru rushed through the underbrush, his eyes frantically looking around for signs of either mabeasts or a way out.

"Rem, I don't know the way!"

"Go straight!" Her voice called from behind, "Once we get past the barrier that battle is over, head for the village bonfire!" She cried out while the sounds of her flail's heavy chain echoed from its usage against the monsters.

He continued to run, then spotted a light in the distance, "Rem I see a light, we're almost to the barrier-" Subaru's voice cut short as he spotted Rem's wounded figure . "Rem…"

Then, the japanese man took notice of that damn puppy-looking mabeast glowing with yellow light before the ground below erupted forth into a landslide. Rem looked back, saw it, ran towards Subaru, and pushed him out of the way.

Then the landslide crushed her and then threw her body into the air and back down as gravity took control and slammed the girl's figure against the earth.

"Rem!" Subaru yelled in fear.

Then it happened… As the pack of mabeasts started to encircle them, the sound of Rem weapon's chain echoed, Subaru looked towards her direction, to see her standing up.

His nose itched, the scent of something demonic filling his nostrils.

 _He could smell a lot of ambient mana in the air surrounding her._

A glowing small white horn appeared on Rem's forehead, her wounds healing at an accelerated pace, mouth widening to that of a grin, then laughter, a laughter of someone that had lost control of themselves to the pleasure of pain and killing.

"Mabeast…" She trailed off, before charing forward at the creatures, swinging her weapon left and right with little to no effort, "Mabeast, mabeast, mabeast, mabeast!" She chanted over and over.

Subaru looked in shock, "She's a demon…"

 _No, a demon is something else._

Her insane laughter was like a twisted play, her form spinning and weaving through her opponents, the heavy flail soaring through the air and mowing down an entire row of the mabeasts, blood decorating the surroundings like it had rained.

Then, he saw a small pack jump from behind.

He dropped the girl in her arms, he had to _save_ her!

But he wouldn't survive being hit either.

Thankfully, he knew of something that might make be able to live.

"Trace on!"

A single magic circuit switched on once more, od surging within as prana was creating with an electrifying pain that came with it.

He reinforced himself, or at least, the thickness of his skin.

With only a single circuit, he could barely do anything worthwhile, but at the same time, thanks to that he had avoided bursting like a balloon from over reinforcement.

He pushed Rem out of the way.

"Subaru-kun!" Rem returned to normal upon realizing what he did.

Then felt his entire body pushed and struck by an avalanche of claw and teeth. Subaru was smashed to the ground, one mabeast canine snapping at his arm, another at his abdomen side, and the third trying to sheer off his leg.

But surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as he expected it too.

Using his strength, Subaru smashed his fist against the jaw of the trying to snap his arm in two.

"Grrah!" He screamed in pain as he felt the bone in his arm nearly break from the impact, but it served its purpose as the mabeast retreated in a whimper.

A giant weapon flying overhead and striking the one attacking his abdomen caused the remainder to flee.

"T-thanks, Rem!"

"Subaru-kun, you're… You're alright?!" She asked in both concern and confusion.

"In deep pain, but let's talk later!" He exclaimed the seven-teen-year-old got back on his feet, taking in heavy breaths, "Trace, off."

The magic circuit shut off, he could still remember what Puck had told him if it was left on.

"Trace?" Rem questioned, but got back on her feet.

"Let's… Get back…" Subaru said, but he felt sick, ah… Now he knew… There was a curse on him like the time he felt it invade his body when the puppy bit him.

He'll deal with it later, he walked towards the girl and picked her up, then turned to face Rem.

"The mabeast fled off," Rem answered.

"We're lucky, probably realized my charms were too much for them! Haha!" He joked lightheartedly but inwardly sighed in relief of not having to deal with them.

She smiled, her blue hair hiding one of her eyes, "This way, Subaru-kun."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Watch out! The story is going out of canon! Help, it's the Butterfly effect! Help, help! I'm drowning! I'm drowning in supportive reviews and shipping suggestions even though I'm shit at romance! (Though my Undestined Friendship readers disagree on that most likely.)

Well, now that my useless chat is out of the way, enjoy the chapter! Tell me what you think in a review! Heck, go ahead and make your own theories (or community group for that matter, if you do that I'll be sure to join! Seriously need some anime-liking friends here.)

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 5: To Save Every _one_

 _He couldn't see anything, all Natsuki Subaru could see was an endless ocean of darkness. But despite it being a sea of black, there was a certain clarity to it that he couldn't exactly figure out. As if it was free of a burden that normally plagued his soul, like a curse that was lifted because it simply didn't belong in this place._

 _Then the sea shifted, a blinding light encompassing his vision, like the sunlight coming into the night early in the mornings._

 _All could now see, was long winding field of dry, harsh earth and slightly alleviated hills._

 _And throughout this wretched landscape lay swords, blades of countless numbers, workmanship of different origins, each unique in their own right, every pommel different from one another, each weapon shaped in a variety of curves or edges. For here, whether formed with intentions of good or evil, angelic or demonic, man or monster, all stood side by side in a world with floating gears measured in kilometers._

 _Yet the only things Subaru could feel, was a sorrowful emotion for the state that the realm displays._

 _As if this wasteland was once a pristine display of something once held dear and considered beautiful._

 _But, on a lone hill above all others, lay tiny patches of grass, a sign of struggle, a symbol of hope reignited against impossible odds._

 _An image of a man stood on that lonely spot, short white hair, tanned skin, and red clothing._

 _And in the distance behind him, a vague image appearing like that of a younger man, with short red hair, white skin, wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans._

 _At that moment, Subaru woke up._

* * *

Natsuki Subaru's eyes fluttered up, before sitting upright and streching a bit to ease his drowsiness. He let his arms slump down onto the bedsheets as his mind pondered on what recently occured.

'What kind of vivid dream was that, pretty sure I've seen nothing similar to that to warrant such images…' He thought to himself.

The butler to the local mansion had stayed overnight in the village while Rem tended to any immediate injuries he had, personally, he wanted to stay to make sure the children were alright. He stood up late at night, making sure the kids were alright until Beatrice, Ram, and even Emilia had shown up at the village and cured the curses off them along with repairing the barrier to the forest.

He fell asleep shortly thereafter, forgetting to let Beatrice know that he himself was probably cursed. Though most likely that Rem would inform her anyhow.

"Man, maybe my head is all over the place because of so many things happening!" He complained loudly as he closed his eyes, then reopened them before leaping out of the bed. "Well, I got no time to sit and lazy about! I got to make sure those kids are fine."

He walked out of the room, before noticing Emilia sleeping in a nearby bed. Subaru smiled at the cute sight, and wondering absently how the others would look in their sleep, consider they probably all saw him when he used Emilia as a lap pillow.

The man patted his own cheeks, "Later, later, first things first," He said to himself as he opened the door to go outside… And it was really, really early.

The sun seems to be rising over the horizon as the landscape was dipped into a bright orange hue.

"Wha- Why did I wake up so early!?" He exclaimed, before realising there were others also awake. "Oh right, this is a fantasy village, people woke up early all the time back then," Subaru nodded to himself.

But then Subaru saw something different, something that seems out of the ordinary despite looking ordinary, wait, that wasn't it. He shook his head, it was a bit fuzzy for some reason, like it was clouded from looking at it.

He focused his vision, and spotted it was the small girl with purple braided hair, he gritted his teeth and he tried to keep focused on it.

'Am I still cursed?' He thought to himself, 'Well, might as well do a little testing.'

Natsuki Subaru could vaguely recall that strange voice in his head talking on how he could 'flush' the curse away by flooding his circuits with magic.

"Trace, on."

A single magic circuit flicked to life within him, he tried to push mana all around his body.

It hurt, he accidentally bit his lip, causing it to bleed as he remained focused on controlling his mana. Subaru opened his eyes, to see them clear and a odd feeling was washing over him, but unaffecting his senses now.

The girl took notice of him as he began walking over, making sure that lone active magic circuit in him remained as such. She stuttered what she was going to say, clearly surprised that he was there.

Why? He's met her numerous times, well, many to him that is- Wait, he never actually got her name. Then again, the girl was always the shy one every time.

Actually, now that he thought about it, none of the other kids knew her name either…

His nose itched again, there was that smell, the scent of mabeast surrounding them for some strange reason despite not being near the forest barrier.

"Hey, how you doing, you alright?" He said happily.

The girl looked to him, still surprisingly shocked, her words came out like a jumbled up phone recording, "I-I, Y-Yes, S-Subaru…?"

"That's good," Subaru said, placing a hand on her hand, causing her to flinch. "Why so nervous, everyone's fine," the man attempted to comfort the child. "What's your name?"

She remained silent, looking down away from him.

 _Deliberating hiding the fact that she was connected to the recent events in some form or matter._

'No, she's not, she's just a kid!' Subaru argued against that line of foreign thought.

He kept a happy expression, then suddenly.

Pain.

Something invading his body, it made him want to hurl, want to cough and choke, he felt it pressed harshly, like a grinding stone, to his mana. He focused, damnit, was the a curse.

The girl fled, running toward the forest.

"W-wait!" He reached out for the fleeing child, before collapsing on his knees as his strength left him.

"I-I-I…" His vision blurred, watching as the girl went past the magic barrier into the depths of the forest, 'She'll die in there…" Was his thought.

Damnit! He couldn't die here, not everything he's been through this time!

His body burned like a hot iron rod being pressed against it.

It hurt like so badly, this was nothing like any death before!

Focus! Focus! Flush the curse! Wash it away!

A second _magic_ circuit switched on.

A black mist burst out of his body, particularly from his hand where he had patted the girl. At that moment his body felt relief from the overwhelming sensation of his innards wanting to leave.

His eyes widened, "No way…"

The girl… The puppy wasn't the shaman… It was the girl.

No… No, no, he refused to believe that! The braid haired little girl had been a shy yet kind kid every time, she was Petra's friend, there must be something like possession going on.

And now it was forcing her into the forest!

This damn world was so unfair!

 _She would die in there, he had to save her!_

"Trace… Off…" He trailed off, switching off the magic circuits inside him, giving him the much needed breather.

He couldn't do it alone, he knew this, Subara knew this better than everyone. He was weak, he needed help… Rem and Ram would help him perhaps?

But Emilia couldn't be involved in this, he wouldn't dare put her in danger's way. Plus, he promised Roswaal-sama that he would keep her safe.

"Right…" He said, turning around.

"Subaru-kun?"

He blinked, "Rem?" He questioned in shock at her appearance, even though he was planning to go meet her.

"Are you alright?" The demon girl answered, looking at him with those crystal blue eyes in concern.

"I'm fine, but we have a serious problem! I think one of the kids was possessed by a shaman was it forced her to run back into the forest!"

"Possess?" Rem questioned, "Shamans can't possess, Subaru-kun," She answered him, before sniffing the air. "This scent…" The girl trailed off in disgust. "The girl… She's a Mabeast Tamer…"

"Huh, a mabeast tamer?"

"Yes," came the voice of the other twin, Ram, the red-haired girl dropping down from the nearby roof. "Thank you, Barusu," She said to Subaru.

"For what…?" The man asked in confusion.

"For revealing her, if you hadn't been here to stop her movements I believe I wouldn't have known until much later," Ram said, then smiled at him, "She ran off, but her curse was too weak to kill even an amatuar magic-user like you,"

"I don't know whether to be happy or annoyed at you right now," Subaru replied to her, then he straightened up with a determined expression, "But there is one thing I do know, and that is we can't let that girl leave through the forest whether or not she's a mabeast tamer. I said I would save everyone, and I keep my promises."

The two of the twins looked to him, before Ram sighed. "At least you're good for something, fine, knowing you, you'll go off on your own if you can't find help. So we're come with you."

"Nee-sama, but you won't be able to cast much magic." Rem looked to concern, oddly staring at the space where Subaru knew was Ram's forehead.

Subaru cracked a grin and a thumbs up, "Don't worry Rem, I'll protect your nee-sama with all my skills!"

"I feel more in danger than ever now," Ram commented.

"Why do you have to be so cold, Ram-chi?" Subaru deflated at the harsh and unforgiving words of Rem's sister.

With this, Subaru, Ram, and Rem prepared themselves to enter the forest where one little girl and a army of mabeasts lay in wait. Well, the twins would be fine, as for Subaru… Eh, he'll probably die with his lackluster skill set, but that's why Ram and Rem are there to protect him.

Even so, Subaru was determined that he will _save everyone_ this time, and he meant _everyone_!


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note** : Sorry for it being a little later than usual, one of my dogs ate rat poisoning so I had to take him to the vet! He's fine, but the vet dudes took hours! Anyhow, enjoy the chapter everyone, tell me what you think of it and feel free to state your own little theories!

 **Guest (Butterfly Effect):** For you, and all those who asking, I will not reveal any pairings. Why should I spoil the pairings so early? A lot of you may want a specific pairing to happen, and it may happen, but it's not going to occur instantaneously.

 **Michael Archealis** : Thank you for discovering that type, and your welcome for the fast updates.

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 6: Of Demons and Mabeasts

Before Natsuki Subaru, Rem, and Ram could head off in a chase after the Mabeast Tamer child, Subaru went go to visit Beatrice who still was in the village thanks to last night's releasing of the curses upon the village children.

"Beako, I'm heading off and I need to be one-hundred percent, so you can do me a favor and rid of the curses on me?" Subaru asked.

"I did hear you got bit a few times, I guess I can help you again, I suppose," Beatrice said monotonously, coming closer and looking for the curses. She blinked, then looked up in annoyance at Subaru, "Are you making fun of me, you have no curses on you."

"Huh?" He questioned.

"By some miracle, you either dispelled your own curses or someone else did it, I suppose," Beatrice explained, before turning away from him with a "Hmph," And walking back.

"..." Subaru was a lost of words for a brief few seconds, "Heh, I guess my magic is actually pretty cool!" He cheered for himself.

They had taken a few minutes to prepare, in that time, one of the village guards along with a few men had brought to Subaru the village's sharpest sword, when he had appeared and offered it to him as thanks for rescuing the children in the previous night, Subaru thanked them in return for the gift.

When Subaru grabbed the sword and laid his eyes on it.

 _Structural Grasp_

 _It created by the village's blacksmith a few years ago with average quality steel, though mostly well made, the blade itself wouldn't last long against a heavier weapon or short-bursts of stress. It hadn't seen much combat with the villagers outside of a lone scuffle with some brigands but is well-kept by the village's strongest guard to retain its sharpness. However the guard was using his sharpening stone incorrectly, very slowly degrading the blade's durability._

He blinked, that was a load of information all the sudden.

"Thanks, a lot," He looked towards the forest, the rest of the kids were still sleeping due to how early in the morning it was. "Once we did our investigation, we'll return."

"Good luck," The man said, the rest of the villagers wishing him well and much fortune.

Subaru walked away, heading towards the barrier that protected the village from the mabeasts within. He stopped just short of passing the fence line, then briefly looked around before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Trace, on," Subaru stated.

Two magic circuits flicked on, his body heating up as the small jolt of pain came with the usage of his circuits.

"Reinforcement," The spell's name escaped his lips, the magical energy traveling along his arms and into the sword in his palms.

He focused on repairing, or at the very least, increasing, the village sword's durability and handling of high impact stress. This way the weapon won't give out on him when he needed it most unlike the sticks he improvised with yesterday.

"Trace, off," He finished, opening his eyes and observing the work he did.

The village sword now looked like it was ready for combat, it had a shining gleam to it that wasn't there beforehand and the balance of the blade felt more comfortable in his hands.

'Hmm… What else can I do with my magic? Maybe I'll unlock some god-tier magic later!?' He said, pointing a hand at the forest, "Firaga!"

Nothing happened.

"Well, probably magic from a game doesn't work in real life, even in a fantasy world," He commented while looking at his hand, "Well, I know I can analyze stuff apparently, remove curses from myself, and reinforce objects. Not a bad level one spells for a beginner."

He looked behind him to see Rem and Ram walking his way, "You ready, Ram-chi! Rem-rin!" Subaru waved his hands towards them in excitement.

Rem smiled at him, "Yes, Subaru-kun,"

"Even if we do have to drag your luggage, Barusu," Ram said.

"You're always going to keep calling me that, aren't you?" Subaru questioned her with a displaced expression.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," She said while winking with a radiant face.

"You totally do!" He retorted loudly.

"Regardless, the mabeast tamer must not be allowed to escape," Ram said.

The sound of a heavy chain attached to a large flail caught Subaru's attention, taking notice that Rem once again held the weapon in her hands. _A flail with a morningstar as the main weapon of force summoned to Rem by a tiny marginal usage of magical energy._

"Still for protection?" Subaru joked to her.

Rem smiled again, "Yes,"

* * *

A spray of blood and guts decorated the earth below as a morningstar rested on the exploded remains of a ulgram's, the name of the wolf-like mabeast, corpse. Another ulgram nearby having been cut in half by the powers of the wind serrated its body into pieces, while nearby the stabbed figure of a mabeast with a sword, having died from such injuries, lay quietly on the ground.

Subaru took heavy breaths, trying to recollect himself as he used the sword as support, his eyes looking over to the two sisters who didn't look so much as winded, in fact, it looked like this was an everyday occurrence to them.

He finally calmed his breathing and asked, "So, may I ask how come Rem had a horn yesterday?"

"Onee-chan and I are demons," Rem answered in reply.

"Demons, huh… That explains your insane strength I guess…"

"Subaru-kun…" Rem flushed from that comment.

"How are we going to find the girl anyway?" Subaru asked.

"I'll use my clairvoyance," Ram answered.

"Clairvoyance?"

The red-haired twin maid looked to him, "It's a power that allows me to see what the bugs and animals on my wavelength are seeing." She explained to him. "Barusu, sister, I'm going to use my clairvoyance now. Wait a moment."

Natsuki Subaru stood there while looking to Ram, who simply had raised her head and closed her eyes like those typical shows where the character is doing their sensing abilities.

Guess somethings never change.

"So does Ram-chi have a horn too and transform?" He asked while they waited.

Rem looked away at that question, a sense of guilt seemed to hang in the air around the girl.

"No, onee-san lost her horn in an incident," She answered.

"Oh," Subaru said, "Is that bad?" He questioned.

"To a demon, losing their horn is a fate worst than death," Ram answered instead. "But there are things I gained, things that I view as precious."

"Sorry for asking," Subaru apologized.

"She's that way, running fast but exhausted," Ram answered as she started to speed towards northward.

"Hey! Wait up!" Subaru exclaimed as he chased after her, Rem following just behind him as she held her weapon.

"Aaaaah!"

The scream of a small child echoed loudly throughout the forest as Subaru moved a branch out of the way to see an entire pack of ulgrams, the name of the mabeast he found out about this morning from Ram. The creatures appeared to be in a slight civil war as that cursed black puppy stood between the rest of the mabeasts and the young little girl.

"Are you kidding me, I can't… Come on!" Subaru said as he refused to believe that the child was controlling the same mabeasts that cursed him and the rest of the village children.

The ulgrams attacked the small puppy, whichever mana erupted and formed fire to come up and incinerate one or two.

"Go big!" The small girl from behind yelled, having not taken notice of Subaru or the others.

Suddenly, that tiny little black puppy contorted and twisted, raw mana coming out of it in troves as a monstrous transformation took place for it's puppy-like exterior to grow ten meters high with snarling jaws, glowing red eyes, muscular figure, and paws the size of a man.

Subaru looked up to the creature, but refocused on the girl quickly, "What do you think you're doing! Heading into the forest! I don't care if you're a mabeast tamer or not that was dumb as hell you brat!" He exclaimed his anger towards her.

The girl seemed to jump in surprise as her head darted towards his location, her eyes widened in surprise. "How… Why are you following me, Subaru!" Her childish voice cried out in retort.

"Subaru-kun!" Rem yelled as a group of ulgram mabeasts charged at Subaru, Rem, and Ram. The later two smashing their weapon, or casting magic to utterly destroy the attacking monsters of the witch.

"Grrah!" Subaru yelled he grasp the sword with two hands and horizontally sliced in front of him, catching a charging mabeast's face by luck which got sliced in half by the magically reinforced blade. He once against yelled towards the girl, "I was finally getting around to knowing you too and you just leave the village, what the hell!"

"Y-You don't know me! I'm bad!" The girl exclaimed with tears already forming around her eyes. "I've only met you twice- Ah!" The child nearly avoided being bitten by a mabeast despite her own tamed one fighting against a large portion of the creatures.

'I need to draw their attention away from her!' Subaru thought to himself, "Rem!"

"Yes?" She questioned while smashing the skull of a ulgram with her fist before spinning and bringing the momentum into her morningstar, the spikes impacting against another.

"I can Return by D-"

The voice died in his throat as he felt an unseen hand of shadow touches his body, a fear of death coming to him as the darkness crept around his very soul.

Then as quick as it came, it ended.

He recollected himself as he focused on not vomiting from the sheer pain that had come with that little endeavor of his.

But it worked, all the mabeast, even the tamed one, turned their attention to him instantly.

"Rem, Ram, I'll distract the ulgram while you grab the girl!"

Rem looked in shocked, "But Subaru-"

"No time, just go! Go!"

"Let's go, sister, Barusu is using all his courage to help us," Ram said, charging forward into the pack towards the girl.

Rem gritted her teeth before running after her sister, making sure to kill as many of the damn witch creations before they attacked Subaru.

He looked to them, they looked at him.

"Trace… On,"

A single magic circuit flicked back to life inside of him.

He reinforced his skin again like last night, _knowing that over reinforcement is very dangerous and could easily lead to his death_.

Yeah, that.

He ran to the side, the mabeasts charging at him. Subaru's sight taking notice of Rem in the background, along with Ram, fighting against the girl's tamed ten-meter tall mabeast that she refused to let them past.

"Damn it, why is everything always made harder!" He slashed at a ulgram that came too close, causing it to jump back and avoid it.

A mabeast jumped at him, and Subaru thrust his sword forward, stabbing it but also letting it fall on him. The man fell to the ground with the body on his own, the blood coating his clothes before he managed to push it off of him, then roll to the side to avoid being lamb chops to a monster.

He got up, and tackled the ulgram, pushing it away and allowing him time to grab his sword from the corpse once more.

This was just the start, he had to do this, there were much more and the maid twins, Rem, and Ram had only begun to beat down on the tamer's own creature.

He had to last longer.

Because… Because…

 _She had to be saved._


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** Ack! I'm drowning in comments! Help me! Somebody help me! I don't wanna die-Ughhh…

YOU HAVE DIED

\- Continue

Ugh, well, that was a way to die I suppose, but seriously, it's such a fantastic feeling to see so many people enjoying Re:Circuits! Along with Life of a Zero Dragon; Re:Circuits is one of my most popular fics!

Enjoy the chapter everyone! Tell me what you think of it when you finish, or just comment whatever you feel like!

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 7: Day's End

A ulgram mabeast split into two pieces, blood flowing out of each end as its killer reeled to the right to avoid being clawed by its pack member. Natsuki Subaru breathed heavily, he was exhausted, his strikes were becoming weaker, focus wavering, and he could feel his inner magic reserves begin to dwindle down, taking note on how he didn't have an indefinite amount.

Still, they were plentiful, for the moment.

But there so many mabeasts more had arrived, most likely drawn by the stench of the Jealous Witch that stuck to him like a moth to a flame.

And that wasn't all, he could Rem and Ram fighting, but the latter was having trouble, there was a tiredness hanging in the air around the red-haired twin. Subaru theorized that if his own magic reserves were lessening, for Ram, who used spells far beyond his level, her's was nearing its empty point.

Thankfully, the damage dealt with the largest mabeast, the one tamed by the girl, was quite severe and it wouldn't last much longer in a fight. Either it would die from blood loss, or by a finishing blow from one of the twins.

"Grrr!"

Subaru's head shot up as he twisted his body around to face the sound behind him, and an ulgram leaped from the forest. He raised his sword, but it wouldn't make it in time.

A jaw bit down onto his arm, canines tearing through the clothes with ease and piercing his reinforced skin.

"Aaaaacck!" The pain erupted forth as he screamed, Subaru clenched his teeth as he brought his free head and smashed his fist onto the mabeast's glowing red eye.

The second magic circuit flicked on within him.

Subaru's body felt lighter, stronger, and overall more effective, his senses were enhanced. He could hear every growl, footstep, and voice around him, his nose could smell the scent of blood, sweat, and yet also the dew of the early morning on the surrounding plant life. The Japanese man's eyesight could spot every detail on the ulgram's face, down to the individual hairs.

It was a sensory overload, he coughed up blood, the previously senses blurred in an instant.

"S-Shit!" He said, "Trace," He coughed, "Off!"

His senses returned to normal as the man manually deactivated his magic circuits, but with it, the pain increased as he felt the ulgram's biting force even more than before onto his body.

Adrenaline pumped within his veins, Subaru smashed his fist again on the mabeast's face, causing it to finally relent in releasing his sword arm.

He could feel the curse invade his body, but settling in a dormant state.

 _Novice._

He ignored that line of thought, damn, Subaru knew he was a beginner at using this magic!

 _He knew that E**ya Sh*r** knew that better than anyone._

"Subaru-kun!" Rem's voice made him look back towards her, a demon's horn emerged from her forehead. "No one… You don't need to get hurt for our sake any longer!"

His nose twitched, the ambient mana condensed around the blue-haired demon was immense and seemed to drown out all other scents, the demonic magical energy made the ulgram's own witch smell pale in comparison.

With the heightened combat abilities gained from the demonic transformation, Rem went on a killing spree by swinging her flail, with the Morningstar on one end, easily against multiple mabeast targets. Her face struggling to retain its expression of control to avoid being overtaken by the deep instincts within.

Subaru ran over towards Rem, the girl smashing apart the mabeasts into bits and pieces with her heavy weapon as he made his way past her.

Didn't take an idiot to realize the largest mabeast had been killed off.

The Japanese man took notice that Ram was barely standing on her own two feet, but was raising a hand to strike at the mabeast tamer child.

"Ram! Wait!" He yelled, drawing her attention.

"Barusu, she's responsible for everything," Ram stated, narrowing her eyes at the child who tried to make herself smaller due to the gaze.

Natsuki Subaru took a few quick breaths, ignoring the blood that dripped down from his arm and mouth, which had dried up. "You can't, we don't know what's really going on. What if she's just under control of someone else?" He pointed out a good reasoning.

"The child has tried multiple times to kill you and the villagers, as well as sister. I cannot forgive her for that." Ram replied with an angry expression.

"Maybe not, but I'm sure Ros-chi won't appreciate the fact you killed off the lead to the perpetrators behind all this." Subaru used Roswaal's employment of them to his advantage.

"Subaru… Why?" The girl asked why he was defending her like this.

The butler of the mansion looked to her, "I just started to get to know you better, I don't want you to die before we became friends." He said with a smile.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" She cried.

Ram eyes widened in shock, then looked to Subaru, how could this young man have such effect on the villagers?

Natsuki Subaru smiled, then lifted the girl up on his back, ignoring his body's protest of carrying someone while injured himself. "So, what's your name?"

"... Meili…" The braided hair girl answered.

"Great! Now let's get back to the village, I'm sure Petra is worried about you," Subaru said, before looking forward.

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

Rem was laughing.

"Barusu," Ram started to say.

"Yes…?" He questioned as he saw Rem's state.

"My sister is losing control, we must leave now," She said, tearing off a piece of Subaru's clothing and wrapping it around the bleed arm of his, stopping the blood from flowing.

"Thanks, anyway to change her back?" He said as he began walking forward with Meili on his back.

"If she's not too far off, she can regain control, otherwise, a blow to the horn can revert her." Ram said as she pushed him forward, "Move."

He nodded and starting running forward, looking towards Rem before yelling as loud as he could

"Rem! Snap out of it and let's get going!" He screamed.

"..." Rem remained silent, before looking towards him. "Witch… Witch!" She screamed before lifting the chain of her flail and sending it towards him.

"Oh, crap!" Subaru said as he leaped away, his body stumbling and nearly falling as the morningstar crashed onto the earth, kicking up dirt and dust.

"Aaah!" Meili screamed in fear. "Rem-rin, please stop!"

"Rem-rin…?" Rem trailed off, blinking.

"That's right, Rem-rin-rin!" Subaru said to her, "Remember, you said nobody had to get hurt! So don't hurt anyone yourself you dummy!" He yelled.

"Subaru-kun?" Rem returned back to herself, her eyes recovering their emotion, the horn vanishing from sight. "Get moving, Subaru-kun, sister!" She yelled as she made their way towards them.

"Cover our way out, Rem!" Subaru yelled, "But don't transform again!" He warned her.

"Barusu…" Ram's weak voice trailed from behind him, he turned around to see her on the ground.

"Damn it!" He ran to her and picked Ram up with one arm, "Meili, hang your arms around my neck and whatever you do, don't let go!"

"O-Okay!" Meili said in return.

'I have to reinforce myself, I can make myself carry them easier and move faster!' Subaru thought to himself.

"Trace, on,"

The sound of a sword clashing harshly against metal...

A duo of magic circuits shot to life within him, od pumping into them as they converted into prana which in turn was used in the reinforcement of his body.

The weight of carrying two people lessened as he had more strength to spare due to the usage of magic, Subaru dropped his sword in favor of effectively carrying Ram in a bridal style.

"Subaru-kun!" Rem yelled as she smashed a leaping ulgram that had charged the man with her weapon, "Head left, towards the barrier!" She exclaimed the direction.

"Right!" Subaru yelled as he forced his legs to comply and ran eastward towards the direction of the village barrier. His eyes darting left and right, looking for any signs of attacking mabeasts eager to rend of him of his flesh, bone, and mana. The seventeen-year-old jumped over a walk, his muscles protesting but the usage of his magic circuits allowed him to do such actions without a heavier consequence.

"Sorry, I underestimated how many there were," Ram apologized in his arms.

"Don't apologize now! If it wasn't for you I'm pretty sure we would've died back there!" Subaru said between heavy breaths.

It was hard.

He hurt so much.

The pain of his injuries, combined with the feeling of hot lead pressing against what felt like his very nerves, was mind boggling difficult to not to focus on it alone. He had died multiple times in the past to numerous ways, but he never thought that using magic in combination to being wounded would match them in such ferocity.

Not to mention, carrying two bodies, even if they were child-like in their own ways, put much-unneeded stress on his own muscles.

But they were close to the barrier, he could barely recall how fast he had been running with the two.

"S-Subaru, I'm slipping!" Meili cried from his back.

He stopped, and kneeled, "Quickly, readjust yourself!"

"A-Alright, go!" She said.

But that brief moment to stopping was all the mabeast needed, Rem came from behind them, her wounds grave but unimportant in her own regards. The ulgram charged both at her, and the three others in their territory.

Rem was breathing heavily, she spun the chain and struck a mabeast in the air, causing it to splatter like a pancake into many pieces, raining blood onto Subaru, Meili, and Ram.

"We're gonna need a lot of bathing after this!" Subaru joked as he heaved himself back up and continued to run as fast as he could carry them.

"Barusu, you're bleeding from your mouth," Ram commented.

He knew that.

"D-Don't worry, we'll get healed up after- Ack, all this!" He coughed, his body simply didn't have the exercise it needed for such strenuous magic.

His previously white clothing was now red from the blood of the mabeasts he's slain, his right arm's made-up bandage was also the same color, but from his own life liquid. Such blood dripped from his mouth and lips, coming down to his chin and falling onto Ram's own clothing.

He was losing quite a bit of blood.

"T-There, Subaru!" Meili shouted.

"I see it!" He yelled, "Rem!"

"Go, Subaru-kun!" Rem yelled from behind, the heavy chain being an ever present sound as it shook multiple times from the movements.

Then he saw it, Emilia, on the other side of the barrier.

"Subaru!" Emilia yelled in concern, "Puck!"

The pink creature came out, and both he and Emilia raised their hands, blue magic forming into icicle crystals that took form and fired like speeding bullets, eliminating the chasing mabeasts.

"Thank.. Goodness," Subaru said as he made it safely across the barrier, Rem coming soon after.

With that, he collapsed, Ram getting back up and Meili standing next to him, shaking the young man in concern.

Rem and Emilia went up to him, the latter starting a healing spell instantly.

"Trace… Off," Subaru said, feeling the magic circuits turn off and the feeling of heat leave him.

Then darkness claimed him as his eyelids closed, Rem and Emilia crying out in concern before they too drowned out from his hearing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** Hehe, I leave whether or not I actually have most of these chapters written to your imagination, just be in awe of my almighty update speed! On the side note, IF YOU CAME HERE TO READ OP SUBARU!EMIYA THEN YOU'RE READING THE WRONG STORY. Subaru will not instantly have the skills of EMIYA or UBW Shirou Emiya! The progress of his skills will probably be similar to Fate Route, with some UBW/HF elements.

 **FM Tomomi** : To answer you and that guest comment, this story is not about Subaru being replaced by any sort of character. Plus, where's the room for development in a character that's pretty much already developed?

 **Raygha Raikouga:** It might take a while, who knows?

Enjoy the chapter everybody!

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 8: Birth from Flame

 _He's in a fire._

 _Collapsing buildings and burning people._

 _No matter how far he ran, the scenery remained the same, red and orange, with shades of black from pillaring smoke._

 _He ran, ran, and kept running._

 _His blood was hot, his body pulsing._

 _It was like he was reliving the same nightmare, something so familiar but also so unfamiliar at the exact time._

 _It was his oldest memory, yet, it wasn't his memory at all._

 _There were no words to describe the hellish fields around him._

 _Not even if one were to say that hell itself came upon the Earth would it properly state what had occurred._

 _He couldn't even tell what had lived here at all, but he recognized the language._

 _The words of those who cried out in suffering, yelling at him, screaming to save them, save someone, help them, help their friend, their child, their parents._

 _But he kept running._

 _He only desired to save himself._

 _He can't even do that._

 _The body that had kept running collapsed._

 _It was more of a shell than anything else by now._

 _Even as the rains started to dripped down, he could only look vaguely on as his life began to dwindle away into nothing._

 _Then he saw it, the image of a man, one's who smiled so brightly, so purely, it captivated him._

 _His only thought even as the man held tightly onto his arm._

' _I wish I could smile like that…'_

* * *

Natsuki Subaru's eyes opened up, his eyes looking at the stone ceiling above him. At first, he remained quiet, afraid that perhaps he had died and Returned By Death, only to realize that the maid twins, Rem and Ram, were not in the room with him. His sight went to the side, taking a resting Emilia's face upon the wooden chair in.

He breathed out in relief, Subaru sat upright, his body protesting at the movement because his muscles still lay asleep.

"Sssstch," Subaru hissed in pain, it wasn't his body per say, but it felt like a few of his inner magic circuits were numb.

 _Most likely from overuse due to lack of physical training._

He guessed Emilia-tan didn't have the skill to heal his circuits, as great as she is. But it didn't matter, she restored his wounds and made sure he survived, he would have to repay her back somehow.

Subaru knew he had to train his body up, only thing was, he had no clue where to even begin.

"Guess I can always ask Rem," He said.

"Ask her what?"

"Whaa!" Subaru yelled in surprise before bringing his voice back down quickly, "Puck, you're awake?"

"Of course, it's past that time after all," Puck said as the spirit floated bouncing along the air, "You know Subaru, you should stop worrying Lia so much, I don't want her silver hair turning gray so soon!"

"Believe me, I don't want it either," Subaru agreed with the pink fluffball of a spirit. "Has she been here all this time?"

"Yes, it took a lot out of her to heal your injuries, thankfully you weren't as injured as time in the city. So she should be up after resting a bit more." Puck answered him.

"Ah…" Subaru sighed, "Wait, what about Rem, Ram, and… Meili!" He exclaimed as he pulled the sheets off of himself in concern for those three mentioned.

"They're fine! You really pulled through with them," Puck stated, "The child, on the other hand, is being held in a separate guest room, she's under guard until Roswaal seals her ability to tame mabeasts."

"He… Can do that?" Subaru questioned.

"Of course, he's one of the most powerful magic-users in the Kingdom after all," Puck said as if it was common knowledge.

Subaru filed away that piece of information for later, he knew that Ros-chi was incredibly powerful, but the fact he was one of the most powerful is always good knowledge to have.

 _He wondered how R** would have compared._

"I'm going to check on Meili," Subaru said, "Keep Emilia-tan company!" He exclaimed with a thumbs up.

"You know I will!" Puck cheered happily.

Natsuki Subaru closed the door behind him, leaving Emilia to rest with Puck's protection. He took a quick brief look at what he was wearing, it appeared someone changed him while he was out cold. Probably Ram or Rem, though maybe with some luck, Emilia.

"Oh just thinking about it makes my day seem brighter!" He exclaimed, "Now, let's go see if Meili is okay!"

He walked down the hallway, one or two minutes past before he remembered.

He had no idea which guests room Puck meant.

"... I'm an idiot," Subaru said to himself, facepalming to his own stupidity. "Guess I'll ask Beako," He looked left and right before opening the first door in front of him.

Behold, the library.

"It's good to see you up, I suppose," Beatrice said in an uncaring cold tone.

"Nice to know you are still so caring for my good being, Beako!" Subaru said while waving at her, "Do you know where Meili's room is."

"I could tell you, I suppose," Beatrice said, not even continuing to answer.

"Well?"

"Fifth door on the second floor to the left of stairs, now leave!" She said, raising a hand and blasting Subaru out of the library with a gust of wind.

"Nice to see you!" He said back before the door closed by itself.

"Subaru-kun?"

Subaru turned to see Rem standing there with a tray of food and drink. "Is that for me?" He asked, now suddenly aware of his aching hunger.

She nodded, "I was bringing it for you to eat when you woke up in your bed," Rem explained.

"Wow! Thanks, Rem!" He said, smiling brightly as he took a bread and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Mmh," Rem smiled as her face flushed a small bit of pink.

"Heyfh," He said with his mouth full before swallowing, "You and Ram-chi won't mind if we use one of these room's tables for me to eat on real quick?"

Rem shook her head, before guiding Subaru into one of the rooms with a few tables, it seemed mostly empty, but held a few chairs for them to sit themselves on. Rem placed the tray on the table as Subaru started to help himself to much-needed fuel.

"Mmmh, yeah, Rem you're definitely the best cook in the mansion, I don't think Ram could compare!" Subaru nodded to himself in agreement as he drank some tea.

Rem shook her head, "Ram is better than a lot of things than I am,"

"How so? You excel at many things than she does, like fighting," He questioned.

"If Ram had her horn, she would be much better," Rem replied.

"Why does that matter so much?" Subaru said, "Ram doesn't have her horn, I don't know what occurred for her to lose it but it's in the past right? There's no reason for her to be put on such a pedestal whether or not she has her horn."

"Bu-but, you're wrong! Sister's true self-"

"I don't know how Ram was with her horn, so I can't possibly know the Ram you see," Subaru interrupted her. "You know, I've taken noticed that sometimes you would undermine yourself in comparison to her, but you don't have too. I'm sure if Ram kept her horn and you lost yours, she would do that same thing you are."

"..." Rem remained silent.

"Anyway," Subaru placed the tea back to the tray, finished with his meal, "If you weren't there for me back in the forest, I'm sure I wouldn't have survived." He placed his hand on hers in comfort, " So if you want her to have her horn so much, then be her horn. You can be a demon for both of you."

"I'll… I'll try," Rem replied.

"Good," He patted her head, rubbing her hair a bit which made her smile again, "Now can you help me find Meili? Beako said should be in a guest room nearby,"

"Beako?" Rem questioned the name.

"Pet name for Beatrice, I think it fits nicely!" Subaru exclaimed cheerfully. "Though I wish she wouldn't be so fussy about it, you know?"

"Hehe," Rem giggled, "This way, Subaru-kun," Rem said as she picked up the finished tray and directed Subaru towards the guest room with the child.

* * *

The door opened wide to reveal Natsuki Subaru greeting the scared out of her wits child.

"Morning, Meili! Sorry 'bout all this, I would let you out in a heartbeat but I'm not the mansion's lord!" Subaru said to the girl as he walked over to her, Rem looking from behind, her eyes narrowing at the small girl just a bit.

"Subaru… I'm sorry," Meili hid most of herself in the bed covers.

"Nah, it's fine, we're all alive and well," Subaru waved it off.

"But I'm sorry!" Meili said once again, "I gotta make it up to you,"

"Just tell me why?" Subaru asked.

"Huh?"

"Why did you do all that?" He questioned her actions.

'..." She remained silent as she looked away from Subaru.

"It'll be a lot easier for everyone if you can tell us easily,"

"They told me too,"

"Who?"

"They wanted me to kill every one at the mansion and the village,"

Subaru paused for a brief moment, did he hear that right?

"So, what is this group that wanted you to kill everyone here?" Subaru questioned, "And why did you go along with it?"

"They… They held my village hostage… Some sort of assassins group, I don't know much! I'm sorry!"

"No, it's fine, it's fine! You've given us a lot of information! Just rest," Subaru said as he turned and exited the room, closing the door and looking to Rem. "Well… Did that get her clean?"

Rem looked thoughtful, "She still needs to be punished, but that information will be helpful,"

"Good, now I think I should get going before Ram comes to drag me out of bed only to find me not there!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** Once again, I thank everyone for their support! I probably would've quit writing all this in the first chapter as a one-shot (which I originally intended to get hype off my chest.) if it wasn't for all of your… Uh.. Enthusiastic responses!

What I meant the last chapter concerning the OP SUBARU!EMIYA was that I wasn't going to either replace Subaru was a far more powerful character, or give him instant power ups. Re:Zero is a tragedy, and I must respect that genre. Yes, that means Subaru won't find things easy just because he as a few magic circuits.

Enjoy the chapter everyone!

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 9: Rem's Unforgiving Training

It had been a few hours since Natsuki Subaru had awakened, he had been going through his daily routine of work, cleaning up the mansion, preparing food, washing the baths, and assisting both Rem and Ram in their own duties. Though, it was more of them assisting him than him aiding them. Still, life was going pleasant and he had reached the fourth day with no incident other than the business with the mabeasts a day prior.

Meili on the other hand, she was the purple, or blue, braided haired girl that had made friends with the rest of the village children, Petra in particular, before the mabeasts event. She was in truth, the real perpetrator's tool in attacking the village and Emilia's supporters for what Subaru learned was the election of the kingdom's future ruler.

However; they had little information on what exactly the assassin organization that Meili described are working for or trying to accomplish.

It made Subaru crazy, as his imagination was free to think of multiple scenarios, and considering how many times he's died in this world, many of those thoughts were pictures of death, torture, or lots of pain.

To ease his mind off the subject, he got permission from the maids to take a small break. Then asked if Rem could help him with a particular problem.

Now they were outside on the court.

"Rem, I'm weak," Natsuki Subaru said to the blue haired girl.

"Yes," Rem didn't sugarcoat the answer in the slightest. "But you're strong in other ways,"

"I know I have my strengths, but in terms of a fight I'm useless, pathetic, and tend to do rash actions." Subaru explained, "So…"

Subaru fell on his knees and bowed to Rem, "Please train me!"

"Okay," She replied.

"I know, it was a stupid- Wait, huh?" Subaru questioned dumbly, getting back on his feet.

"We start now," Rem said. "Feel free to use anything at your disposal."

"W-Wait! Oomph!" Subaru got knocked off his feet and was instantly winded, he found Rem standing above him with a fist held high.

"Subaru-kun, you died," Rem said simply.

"I-I know that!" He said as he catches his breath, "I was unprepared that's all!" Subaru said.

'Should I use magic? No, I think my circuits need to rest if they feel numb. I can't always rely on my magic to get me out,' Subaru thought to himself as he looked around for any sort of tool or weapon.

He picked up a broom, the swung it horizontally at Rem.

She caught it with her hand easily, grasped hold it, thrust it into his stomach causing him to reel forward then kicked under his feet, stealing the broom from him and pointing it at his face.

"You died again, Subaru-kun," Rem said, "But it was a little better."

"Little better huh?" Subaru coughed as he tasted dirt in his mouth; spitting out said dirt he got back on his feet, holding his stomach as the pain slowly faded away. "I thought you were going to teach me special techniques and stuff, not beat me up."

"You learn faster this way," Rem said, "You think and learn quickly, and we don't have much time, so it's quicker with this method."

He looked up to Rem, his vision blurred for a brief moment.

 _Sa*er stood there with the practice shinai, prepared for him to strike at her. But he knew he could never beat her, in his mind, nothing could beat Sa*er at swordplay._

He shook his head, vision refocusing itself.

"Man, why couldn't the training be simple, like Dragon Ball or something?" He questioned as he grabbed the broom that Rem tossed back at him.

"I don't know what you speak of, but it's never easy," Rem said.

"Hmm…" Subaru looked at the broom, it didn't sit right for him to use such a long weapon, even if it's a tool. "Hey, we got a lot of brooms right?"

Rem nodded.

He snapped it in two, removing the end of the broom as well, causing her to tilt her head in confusion. "Nee-san won't be happy about that," Rem said to him.

"Oh I know she won't, in fact, I guess this training is to help me survive against her in a way," Subaru said as he wielded both broken pieces in his arms.

 _And it felt right._

'I'm beginning to think that these were never my memories at all,' Subaru said to himself. He certainly couldn't recall ever holding weapons in his life back in Japan.

"Here I come, Rem!" He yelled as he charged at her, reeling back one hand to slash at her with the broken broom piece.

She sidestepped him, causing him to try and turn and slice at her with the other one, but Rem was too quick, the demon girl intercepted his arm and knocked the tool out of his hold.

He slashed with the other one, causing her to retreat back a bit. Subaru eyed the weapon that dropped to the ground and went for it but found a shoe to his face when he reached out, sending him back up before a fist impacted his chest and he fell back to the floor.

Natsuki Subaru gasped for breath, and swung his right arm's broken broom, only for it to be blocked by the other broken half in Rem's hold, disarmed from him, and the glorified stick bash his head.

"Dead," Rem finished. "But good try, Subaru-kun," She smiled at him.

He remained on the floor, "Ouch, ouch, ouch," he repeated as he rubbed the bruise forming on his forehead.

"Are you okay?" Rem asked in concern, "I didn't mean to hit too hard."

"Nice to know you held back," Subaru said, a little thankful that she didn't go all out, with or without a horn. He got up, his muscles protesting already, it's clear he already reached his body's current limit.

"Take a rest Subaru-kun, I'll go get tea," Rem said as she walked away towards the kitchen.

He sighed, laying back down on the soft grass, his sight greeted by the crystal blue skies and fluffy white clouds hanging above.

'Thinking about it, I didn't get these memories until have Puck activated my circuits for the first time, maybe I should ask him or Beatrice about it?' He thought to himself, 'But… Puck did seem confused on my gate being split into lines, maybe it's because I'm not from this world? Could it really be that simple of an answer though?'

He had so many questions, where did the memories come from? Who were those blurry images in them? What about that large fire or the field of blades? How come the memories knew he could do those spells? Why does he look at weapons and see a lot of information?

So, so many questions about himself, yet there's also the occurring events here, like the issue with Meili, the Assassination Organization, Emilia's chance for the crown…

"Ugh!" He scratched his own hair in frustration, "Why is everything so confusing!" He exclaimed loudly. "Okay, one step at a time, improve my skill level, help Meili, prevent assassins going after Emilia-tan again, and finally figure out what those memories are."

He heard the noise of something, like a huge carriage. Subaru sat upright, looking around and finally spotting a carriage being drawn by a strange creature.

"Wonder what that is about?" He said, silently appreciating the distraction.

* * *

Natsuki Subaru had watched passively by for a dozen or so minutes as this cat girl from the carriage was greeted kindly into the mansion, where she went with Emilia and Ram into the building. In his curiosity, Subaru walked up to the carriage to greet the old man standing there in wait.

"Afternoon," Subaru greeted the old man. "Care to tell me what's the occasion?" He asked.

The man looked to him, observing Subaru for a brief moment, "I'm afraid I don't know your affiliation with the mansion, so I do not have the liberty of telling you. You can say we are just passing by," He said.

"I'm just a servant getting his nose into everyone's business, especially Emilia-tan's," Subaru said with a grin, patting some dust off his clothing.

"Indeed," The elder man looked at his clothes, "Training with swordsmanship are you?"

"Oh? Well, kinda," Subaru said, "Mostly just trying to survive against a girl strong enough to mow down mabeasts at the moment,"

The old man nodded, "If you seek the path of the sword, you should first get yourself a practice blade,"

Subaru looked to him, "You're right, I probably should, why do you know so much about swordsmanship?" He said, his eyes trailing down the man's figure, he was wearing a butler outfit of some sort in Subaru's perspective.

"I've had my days of youth revolving around the sword," He trailed off.

 _He's lost something, something precious to him._

The man arched an eyebrow at Subaru for a brief moment, but before they can continue their conversation, the cat girl returned.

"Sorry to have you wait outside, Old Man Wil, you were probably bored," The girl said.

"No worries, this young man has been speaking with me," Wil said, pointing his hand at Subaru.

"Nyoh?" The girl said, the animal ears twitching causing Subaru to eye to a bit.

The women went all around Subaru, repeating the word as she observed the boy. "Ah, nyow I see… Of course. You must be the boy Emilia-sama mentioned, the one with the oddity"

"Emilia mentioned me?" He asked.

"I guess you know nyothing at all, huh?" She said, before ignoring him and saying to the elder man, "Let's go, Old Man Will."

She looked back to him, "See you in the capital,"

But Subaru had no intention of going to the capital, not now at least.

No, Subaru had other issues on his mind, like Meili and the Assassination Organization after Emilia.

He watched as the two boarded the carriage, the old man wishing him well before whipping the creatures to go, prompted them to start pulling the carriage, making them go and leave the mansion's vicinity.

But as they traveled, the girl asked the old man this question.

"I was surprised to see you talk to that boy, I thought you preferred chopping people in half than talking to them."

The old man replied, "That is a grave misunderstanding. I merely took a bit of liking to the boy's eyes."

"Oh?"

"Those are the eyes of both one who experienced death several times, and one's whose ideology had betrayed them,"


	10. Chapter 10

**Big Important Author's Note** : I'm really on a roll with this story, though I might switch story focus soon to one of my other ones. So, don't expect this story to update every single day in the future. Though I will try. If you guys want longer chapters, you must wait more patiently. Usually I do 2k-4k chapters with my other stories, however, I can shoot off 1.5k-2k chapters a lot faster out.

Keep in mind that these are short chapters so time doesn't speed by as quickly in the story itself than in IRL. This story is (initially) following the Anime Re:Zero, while the Fate/Stay Night is following a combination of VN Realta Nua and Anime Unlimited Blade Works.

I have not read the LN of Re:Zero, all information gleaned from only the LN is gained via the wiki or members of the Re:Zero community.

Also, if you guys/gals really want pairings so much, keep in mind that such romance won't come easily. If for example, you want SubaruXRem, Subaru won't spontaneously stop loving Emilia just for the story to be with Rem. He's still in love (initially or not) with Emilia, and love is a very irrational thing to deal with. Moving on...

Enjoy the chapter everyone! Hooray for reaching double digits!

Btw, if you want next chapter to be 4k, let me know, however, expect it to take more than a single day to write. I don't have these pre-written actually at all!

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 10: Declining of Fate

"Oomph!" Natsuki Subaru fell right on his rear end as he was once against beaten aside by the superior in every way, Rem. He dragged himself to his feet, holding a wooden sword in his right hand that was carved out and given to him by one of the carpenters of the village.

He had thanked him of course.

He breathed heavily, sweat drippings from his pores and his hands were raw from wielding the wooden sword against a physically greater opponent.

It had only been a few hours since the visitors came and went, Rem had returned and had a pleasant tea with Subaru before they went off to work in the mansion once more. Having completed today's chores earlier than anticipated, Subaru had once again opted to continue his training after a brief visit to the village to see how things were.

Of course, the Japanese man had yet to hit Rem even once.

"Really shows the gap between us," Subaru said, "Makes me wonder if I actually helped at all during the mabeasts incident!" He exclaimed.

"Don't say that Subaru, everyone knows that you helped a lot," Emilia said in the background, she had been watching them for a small while.

"Yes," Rem agreed in her own way.

"That makes me feel a little better," He said, turning to Emilia as he rested from the constant training in the past half hour, "So, are you going to the Capital?"

Emilia nodded, "Yes," She waited a brief moment, expecting Subaru to start trying to convince her to let him onto the trip.

"Cool, you think you can thank a few people there for me? Did kinda leave the place when I out, remember? That would be fantastic, Emilia-tan," He said, giving her a thumbs up.

"Huh?" She replied in surprise, that was certainly unexpected, "You don't... " She thought of a reason, "Want to go to the Capital and thank them yourself?"

He shook his head, "I got things to do here at the mansion, plus, I'm sure you'll be back quickly after your done right?"

Emilia nodded, this was good, she didn't want Subaru to go to the Capital because of how rash he can be, this was important for her and the future of the kingdom. "Yes, I will," She replied to him, "Don't do anything rash while I'm gone, alright?"

"Hey! All that happened was out of my control!" He exclaimed, "If I could, I wish nothing bad would happen."

'While I do want to go, there's too much going on, I know what could be coming so I should prepare for it. If someone was going to attack us, they would do so when Emilia gets back here. I know Reinhard is at the Capital, so he should protect everyone while she's there.' Subaru thought to himself.

He was putting his trust in the fact that Reinhard was most likely to be there, giving the nature of the reason why Emilia was going to the capital in the first place, she was a candidate in becoming Lugnica's future queen.

 _But these lulls in action were staple points for larger upcoming incidents, the H**y G*a*l W*rs taught him this fact well enough._

Natsuki Subaru grabbed his head, these intrusions into his head were becoming ever frequent, especially when it concerns combat or his usage of magic. But outside of a headache now and then, it did little to bother him, in fact, it helped him more than anything when it came to learning about how his magic circuits could be used.

Wait…

"Where's Puck?" Subaru asked Emilia, who eyes widened a bit at the sudden question.

"Right here…" Puck said yawning a bit, it was getting close to the time where he would rest for the remainder of the night.

"Puck, is it possible to experience memories when someone activates their magic?"

"Activates?" Puck questioned, looking thoughtful, "Well, I don't think there's ever a case of that happening, but experiencing someone else's memories isn't unheard of. But such magic is very rare, and requires a great deal of power to perform."

"Hm…" Subaru said in thought, "So it is a possibility but not a common occurrence in the slightest… What about possession?" He asked.

"While possible, only those high skill in shadow magic or having special abilities can possess someone," Puck explained."

"You sure are asking strange questions," Emilia said with a curious expression.

"Ah, Emilia-tan, I just want to make sure I know these things so I can be prepared to protect you and everyone!" Subaru exclaimed happily, "I don't know what I would do if something happened my E.M.P! OH, E.M.P stands for Emilia-tan, major princess!" He finished with making some exasperated motions.

"Well, as long as you're happy," Emilia said with a smile, knowing that Subaru was himself as always.

"Maybe when you come back I can cook something, perhaps by then I'll come a little closer to Rem's level!" Subaru said he looked to the blue haired girl, "You'll teach me, right Rem?"

"Yeah, Subaru-kun," Rem agreed without hesitation.

Emilia giggles, "I look forward to it."

* * *

It was the following mid-morning day, Emilia had left early in the carriage with Ram. Roswaal, the master of the mansion, would leave later to catch up to them through his own magical prowess. In which, to Subaru's knowledge, they would carry out some sort of prologue or introduction into the road of Emilia becoming queen. In honestly, while Subaru held the best wishes for Emilia's goal, he knew that her becoming a ruler to a nation might bring him out of the league completely.

The man wished nothing more to be by her side, but for the current moment, there was worked to be done.

Natsuki Subaru swept up rocks and dirt that had gathered on the stone pathways leading toward the mansion entrance in the front court. Outside of himself, only Rem, Beatrice, Meili, and for a moment, Roswaal, remain the mansion's only living residents. Still, there were chores to be done, and Rem had no time to be by his side training him with the work left behind by her sister now becoming her responsibility.

That's fine, he could work on his lonesome and practice something else, like forms or something.

And…

Subaru walked up to the small wall entrance that surrounded the mansion, he placed a hand on the wall.

"Trace, on,"

In Subaru's mind, the sound of a sword's blade clashed against metal echoed.

A lone magic circuit flicked to life inside of him.

He had now since learned that he could do two different types of magic ever since Puck had first activated his magic circuits.

The first spell he learned, though used mostly subconsciously...

Structural Grasp, which allows him to analyze an object to a shocking degree.

The second which is probably his most useful one...

Reinforcement, which as its namesake says, reinforces all properties of a target.

In all honestly, these two spells go hand in hand, as he wouldn't be able to reinforce an object without first analyzing and knowing what to reinforce in the first place. So while he had initially thought Reinforcement to be the only good spell, time to think had made him realize that they were both equally great.

Of course, there were consequences for not using the Reinforcement spell correctly, those brief foreign thoughts as very, very thankfully informed him that reinforcing something beyond its maximum capabilities would result in catastrophic results.

Subaru took a deep breath, "Structural Grasp…" He said, focusing on the wall.

This would be the first time he used the spell intentionally.

" _Basic quality, analyze,"_ Subaru began, but that foreign thought was there again as if saying it with him in his head.

In all honestly, using it on a wall probably wasn't the best place to start, but Subaru didn't have many options at his disposal outside of tools he needed and other buildings.

'The wall is sturdy and strong, however, it wasn't made to withstand something along the lines of a full-scale attack. It is a decorative piece, to appear like the place is well guarded without actually providing much protection. There are small cracks along it, creating vital weak points in which something with a well-hit blow could cause it to easily tumble down,' Subaru thought all the information that came with the spell.

'But, if I do this…' He trailed off in mind.

" _Basic structure, reinforce,"_ Subaru said.

Subaru permeates magical energy into the wall, not all of it, but a portion of the stone structure. Most notably areas which required maintenance or repair, _it was quite easy, as he sometimes did this with materials and devices back in the school he went to._

"Trace, off," He finished.

He blinked, the wall was now possibly as strong as an iron fortress. However, it was only this one segment of a long circle around the area.

"If I do this to all the walls, maybe if we ever do get attacked, they will be forced to go through the front entrance?" Subaru thought to himself, it was a basic tactic, especially in strategy games back on Earth.

However, it also came to mind that he might not have enough mana to do all of the walls at once.

He looked to the one he recently worked on, it hadn't taken that much to reinforce it. In fact, he only felt slightly drained from the action, but it was true, he would never be able to do all the walls in one go.

Natsuki Subaru picked up the broom leaning against a pillar, he would do another segment of the wall later, but for now, he has to continue his chores.

"I should check up on Meili, I don't know if Ros-chi managed to seal her abilities or not, but it's still considerate to check on a friend! Speaking of which, I haven't greeted Beako today yet, should probably do that then leave before she sucks my mana again or something," Subaru said to himself as he finished up sweeping the first of the pathway.

The Japanese man started to make his way back towards the mansion, "I should bring Meili some food too, Rem might be a little tempered towards the girl still, so best to keep those two little ways from one another until she calms down!" He laughed nervously, yeah right, like he could ever stop Rem if she decided to go on a killing spree.

He shivered, damn, the demon girl was strong.

Sure, he's… Experienced… Being killed by her hands once, and seen it against the mabeasts, but knowing how much stronger she is due to how much he's been sparring with her… Yeah, Rem is scary to be against.

But it also gave him comfort, he was sure Rem could defeat nearly anyone. Especially when she is using her horn.

With that thought, he made his way into the mansion, closing the door behind him.

Unaware, that his little preparation on the walls earlier might mean life or death in the upcoming days…

For, out there, were more than a simple assassination organization running amidst...


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** I hope you guys/gals didn't mind that I took a break from writing for a short while.

I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story and we had hit the most reviewed ReZero story on all of Fanfiction!

Until a way better writer comes along and says my story is shit and makes a better one that is.

Anyhow, enjoy the chapter everybody! This one's a bit peaceful... After the intro of it, lol.

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 11: The Passing Time

 _He was in hell._

 _No, it was a mockery to call this hell, even if the flames rose higher than the buildings it turned to ash._

 _The men, the women, the children, the elderly…_

 _All of them cried to him, it was an ever continuing encore of voices._

' _Help me, help me, help me, help me.'_

 _He didn't to help._

 _He wanted to help himself._

' _Save me, save me, save me, save me.'_

 _He didn't want to save them, he wanted to be saved._

' _Make it stop, stop it, stop it, stop it!'_

 _He couldn't stop it, he hadn't the ability to._

 _So, he kept walking, ignoring those that burned around him, passing by the ones who reached out to him._

 _He wanted to be saved, he wished for it so badly…_

 _How ironic, that he wished for it, and he was the only survivor._

 _How twisted it was that the one who didn't want to save anyone but himself happened to be the only one saved._

 _He hated it._

 _He hated this memory._

 _But he could not ignore it because it was apart of him, it shaped him._

 _Without this memory, had this event never occurred, Sh**ou Em*y* could not exist._

 _For those flames burned more than just his body that dreadful day._

 _They tempered him, forged him, remade him._

 _After all, ste*l is h*s b**y, and fi*e is hi* bl**d._

* * *

Natsuki Subaru awoke, his eyes opening wide after the odd and foreign dream he had in his sleep. But as he sat upright, the sheets rolling off of him as he moved, the Japanese man couldn't help but ponder on what he had seen.

"That… That was too vivid… Too real to be a dream…" He said out loud.

That was the second time he had that same memory, and although it differed, it was still that greatly horrific, and terrifying, fire.

He had seen many things since coming to this world.

But that _fire_ …

There was nothing to compare it too, and he hoped that he will never gain any sort of similar experiance to be matched to that foriegn corrupt memory.

His hands shook, gripping into fists, he himself unsure of they moved from fear or anger.

Why anger?

 _Because he wished only to save himself, he let all of them die._

He clutched his head, "Alright… I got to be careful around the fire subject, whoever's memories I'm getting is clearly affected by it."

Subaru got out of the bed and dressed, cleaning up his face in a nearby bathroom before opening the nearest door and arriving at the ever-moving library, with Beatrice sitting in her usual spot.

He walked up to her, greeting the blond-haired women.

Even though she looked like a kid.

"Decided to get that scent removed, at last, I suppose?" Beatrice said as he stood next to her.

"Scent?" Subaru questioned for a moment, "You mean the Witch's scent?"

"Yes," Beatrice began, "Though now you smell of steel, I suppose."

"How can one smell like steel?" Subaru said to himself, "Well, glad to know I no longer smell like I'm evil or something," He said.

Subaru was quite glad he no longer 'smelled' like the Witch, he theorized that perhaps it's because he hadn't died in a while or told anyone of Return by Death. Maybe him having the scent of steel was his natural musk?

"Tch, yeah right," He said, "Natural musk? More like, probably some other mythological figure I haven't been lectured about."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Beatrice replied, "But if you're done, then leave, I suppose,"

"Nice to know you care so much," Subaru said, before taking his leave before Beatrice gets antsy, "See you around Beako!" He said before closing the door before she had a chance to blast him to pieces.

He saw Meili outside today, possibly her first day out of the mansion since having been brought here. Subaru walked outside, his face lifting into a smile as the girl seemed distracted by the fascination of the world.

 _A girl with long silver hair wearing a purple dress twirled around excitingly in the yard. Her red eyes looking towards him with a bright expression._

" _Morning, Sh*r*u!"_

"Huh?" Subaru said.

"I said morning, Subaru-san!" Meili greeted happily.

"Morning, Meili-chan!" He greeted with equal enthusiasm, "You ready to go back to the village today?" He questioned.

"Yes!" Meili exclaimed.

"Great!" Subaru said.

Subaru had promised Meili yesterday when he had brought her food that he would see to allowing her a visit to the village, as it turns out, Roswaal had just finished sealing her abilities and granted him, and her, free reign in returning to the place. He had left probably earlier this morning towards the Capitol, Subaru had slept in a little.

"We can do radio calisthenics too," He finished, making Meili light up in excitement. "Just let me tell Rem real quick before we head off."

"It's fine, Subaru-kun, I've already prepared," The voice of Rem came from behind them, causing them to turn around.

Subaru took notice of a large basket with a beautiful towel covering its top being held by Rem.

"So, I'm taking a guess picnics are not foreign here?" He said.

Rem smiled, then raised finger, for a brief moment, she sparkled.

"I'm just making sure we're ready!" The blue-haired demon maid exclaimed happily.

He gulped, damn, why does this world have such cute girls!?

 _Know my pain._

Shut up!

"Great work, Rem!" Subaru said, drastically trying not to lose his cool in front of them, to do so was to make him a mockery of men everywhere. "Then we can all go together, see the sights, check out the flowers, visit some people, and then eat together in the shade of a large tree!" He said, nodding to himself.

'Perfect plan! You've really outdone yourself this time,' He thought.

"Yay! Let's go!" Meili said, beginning to drag Subaru's arm towards the entrance of the mansion.

Rem smiled, he didn't get a moment to fully examine that smile, though, "No plan survives the first contact, Subaru-kun," She said in a quiet tone.

Subaru's eye twitched, he could've sworn he felt a chill down his spine.

And it worse than those bad gut feelings.

* * *

It seemed the time flowed quickly, that so-called events that he predicted, where he would see the sights, check those flowers, visit the villagers… All such sayings went by like the coming and passing of the fall season. He had done the promised radio calisthenics to those kids, and reintroduced Meili to the other children, Petra was especially concerned about her disappearance and was quite joyful to see her friend once more.

It was quite calming, though, this was the peace and tranquility that he wished to see more often.

Everyone was safe and sound, happy, laughing…

He half expects to see some sort of memory come from that, but by fortune, during the entire time he had been in the village, playing, chatting. Nothing badly had occurred nor had there been any foreign thoughts in his head.

Natsuki Subaru sat comfortably on the towel placed down in the shade, the sun shining brightly in the sky, it's position making it roughly pass noon. Before the Japanese man was placed what you could expect of a typical lunch, he ideally wondered where Rem got all these ingredients from for there to be salad, sandwiches, cut fruit, and other assorted dishes.

Perhaps Roswaal was actually very rich, just didn't show it much? Sure the mansion was quite large in stature, but if you went through it, it didn't seem so fancy…

Then again, he was probably comparing it to modern Earth counterparts, so Roswaal might be rich in terms of Lugnica's standards.

Subaru absently grabbed a sandwich, and bit down onto it, the flavor was brilliant and he enjoyed its taste very much so. He quickly swallowed so that he may have the chance to compliment the chef before hunger triumphs over pleasantries.

"This taste great, Rem!" He exclaimed, giving his best smile.

"Thank you, Subaru-kun," Rem replied with her own brilliant expression.

Meili had long been lost to the food's overwhelming power, not so much as noticing the other two with her as her hands and mouth dug into the sandwiches and fruit laid out for them all.

'She's going to choke on her food at that rate,' Subaru thought.

And on cue, Meili began coughing from ingesting too much too fast.

He patted her back as the child recovered, "Don't eat too fast this time," Subaru said.

'Y-Yes… I was silly…" Meili commented.

Rem leaned over with a handkerchief and wiped some of the sandwich pieces off Meili's mouth, the little girl was confused, having known that Rem didn't like her, but not hated her.

"Sorry, Subaru-kun had told me that you're not at fault for what happened, and I believe him," Rem said, finishing wiping the pieces from her mouth.

 _S*b*r leaned over with a napkin in one hand, gently wiping off some food from I**ya's mouth._

" _Kya- That tickles, S*ber!"_

" _I'm surprised you didn't reject me, I*l*a."_

" _Why? I like being treated kindly."_

Alright, Subaru could deal with that foreign memory just fine, it was lighthearted and didn't carry the dread or sense of justice with it.

'I wonder who those people are, though… Why do I have the memories, yet the faces and names are a blur to me?' He questioned the thought in his mind.

He shook his head with a smile and looked to both Rem and Meili who were engaging in a conversation. The man sighed, and took another bite out of his sandwich, filling his stomach with the delicious food.

"Today was really nice," He said out loud, "Wish we had a lot more of these days, maybe when Emilia-tan gets back, she, Rem, and I could go out? Maybe also invite Ram and Beako? Eh, actually maybe they can just do what they want instead…" He voices out loud.

Rem nodded in agreement despite him not realizing she listened, "Of course, we can finish early if we're quick enough,"

"Yosh! I'm sure with our skills combined we can get it done in no time!" Subaru said in prideful expression, he took a container and sniffed the tea in it. "Wait… Isn't this the most expensive tea in the mansion?"

"Yes," Rem answered.

"Never mind then," Subaru said, "She'll kill me," He finished.

He could already picture her vengeful wrath with his body splitting in two by her wind magic.

"Nice knowing you," Meili stated.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence…" Subaru trailed off in dismay.

Another day, peace continued, Natsuki Subaru woefully unaware of what was occurring in the Capital as without his presence, Emilia found herself being likened to the Witch of Jealousy by the public crowd and such attention was not drawn away by any outbursts.

Yet, simultaneously, Subaru did not embarrass her as he was not there.

The clock turns, fate is being altered, the road to the future is now clouded in mist.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:** The calm before the storm meets its end, I once again thank everyone for their constant support of my decent writing skills (cause I know that professionally, I'm probably crap.)

This chapter took a longer to make due to its length.

Enjoy the chapter! Tell me if you liked it! I try my hardest but it's sometimes difficult to not make Subaru into a Shirou. Their personalities are alike yet very contrasting.

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 12: Fate is truly Slothful

The previously day had gone without a hitch, nothing bad had occurred and Natsuki Subaru, Rem, and Meili had returned to the mansion and resumed their domestic duties while the latter spent her time around the courtyard or inner rooms. It would still be a while before Roswaal would allow Meili freedom outside of the mansion's proximity, even with her taming abilities put to a halt.

Now Subaru was outside once more, on the most western side of the mansion's surrounding stone wall, today Emilia would make her way back here.

Here was here for one purpose.

"Trace, on,"

A sharp clanging sound of a sword against metal echoed in the far reaches of Subaru's mind.

A lone magic circuit switched to life inside him.

"Basic structure, analyze," Subaru said in a trance-like state.

In the past two days, he had been magically reinforcing and repairing the mansion's walls against possible enemy forces. Nothing short of high-grade dynamite or military-grade explosions would now be able to penetrate these defenses.

"Basic composition, reinforce," He continued.

If only he had an alarm system of some sorts now.

 _There was a bounded field around his home, which would signal the chime of bells if someone of ill intent entered, alerting him._

'Bounded field? Man, that would be useful. Come on! At least tell me how to make one while you're at it!' He tried to telepathically think in response to that thought or memory.

Of course, he didn't get any snippet of a response.

'Why can't anything ever be easy for once?' Subaru thought to himself, seriously, where did he assign his skill points or whatever from leveling up?!

Guess it was too much to expect a memory, foreign or not, to partake in conversation.

He sighed, "Trace, off." The magic circuit went back into a dormant state.

He had finished this segment of the wall anyway.

Subaru had, a few hours earlier in the morning, his daily training with Rem. The Japanese man still found himself on his rear end by Rem's overwhelming strength, many, many times. He could swear she flipped him upside down and let his face hit the dirt that one time on purpose.

His attention was caught by the approaching carriage with surrounding guardsmen passing through the open gate of the surrounding walls. In front, Ram held the reins to the ground dragons pulling the carriage.

Subaru's face lifted, Emilia had returned along with Ram.

But there was a certain air surrounding them, not so much center on the pink haired maid, it was emitting from the inside instead.

Something had gone awry, even a unknowledgable person such as him could feel it.

Still, he ran up to meet them as the carriage was parked outside the mansion's entrance in the court.

The door opened, Emilia stepping out of the carriage, using its elevated footstep as support while she exits. The silver-haired half elf looked a little upset, despite the fluffy ball of puff that made the spirit, Puck, next to her tried to cheer her up.

"Emilia-tan! Welcome back, just seeing you here makes the whole of the mansion livelier and full of light!" Subaru exclaimed joyfully.

The girl's attention perked up as she mentally came back to the world, she glanced at the ever-so-optimistic Subaru with a smile.

"Thank you, Subaru," She breathed a sigh of relief, as if releasing much stress in a single breath. "Glad to be back."

"Great! I'm sure Rem is already preparing some food," he leaned to see Ram, "Don't worry! We did our chorus, all finished up till the later ones!"

"I'm make sure to inspect your subpar work, Barusu," Ram replied.

Subaru grasp his heart, "Your words are as cruel and unforgiving as ever! Truly there exist no kinder person such as Rem's sister!" The Japanese man commented.

Ram made an exuberant expression.

Then he moved and grasped Puck, rubbing and letting the spirit's silky fur. "That's the feeling I've been missing, this wonderful, soft, majestic fur! Nothing else by any other animal or spirit would come close to it!" He exclaimed once more, Puck futilely attempted to sway him away.

Once again, Natsuki Subaru now kneeled in front of Emilia, "And Emilia-tan, oh Emilia-tan, you're light warms the very core of my soul! Yes! E.M.A! Emilia-tan, major angel!"

Emilia expression changed from her concealed sorrow to a smile, then a giggle, before laughing out loud at Subaru's exaggerated mannerism. A full minute passed before Emilia could recollect herself enough to form complete sentences.

"It's very nice to hear you again, Subaru," Emilia said, "If there is anything I can thank you with, please, tell me. You've done for me so much, even if sometimes you don't know it."

Subaru's face turned in confusion, before winding back to its cheerful positivity. "Well… Would you like to go on a picnic later with Rem and I? Tomorrow?"

"You're talking about a picnic without me?" Puck voiced his complaint.

"Of course, of course, you can come too!" Subaru said, standing back on his two feet.

"That's right! As the father, I must be there for my daughter!" Puck exclaimed.

"But even the father must give his daughter some breathing space for the strapping young man such as I?" Subaru questioned.

Puck waved him off, "Lia is only for me, there are no others to garner such attention from my precious daughter!"

"Ugh! Your words sting nearly as cold as Ram's frozen heart!" Subaru yelled as he clutched his chest in metaphorical pain. "I'll need some healing from Emilia-tan and Rem before I can continue my chores! Right, Ram-chi?"

"Barusu will get no excuse, in fact I believe he volunteered to clean the restrooms," Ram said.

"Darn!"

* * *

Natsuki Subaru, Japanese man from another world, one with the power of returning by death, who had the strange circuits in place of a gate, found himself on his backside on the grass. The reason for this? He got his rear end handed to him by a blue haired demon girl called Rem.

Time had passed rather quickly since Emilia had arrived yesterday, today, before the picnic later on, he would have his morning routine that had been forming the last few days of sparring with Rem.

He took a few breaths, Rem had an unforgiving training routine. But if it helped in any matter in him getting remotely stronger, it was better than nothing at all.

"Man, no matter how I hard I try, I can't get a single hit on you!" Subaru said as he sat upright, the wooden sword held in his right hand which had blisters, causing it to swell red.

"You've improved a lot," Rem complimented, "That last move almost caught me by surprise,"

"Yeah you say that, but I sure don't feel like I'm any better at fighting!" Subaru said, he hadn't had the chance to test himself on anything besides Rem. He knows he getting somewhat better, as it's getting a tiny bit easier, and by that he means he could take on more of her beatings before falling flat on his ass.

"Still didn't work, but if you say so, then I'll get into amazing skills in no time!" Subaru exclaimed with the utmost assurance that he would get to that level.

He wondered if there any skills that could defeat an opponent in one blow…

 _S*b*r took in a deep breath, before screaming at him, "ARE YOU AN IDIOT!? WHY WOULD WE BE TRAINING IF SUCH A THING EXISTED?!"_

Subaru bit his lip, almost instinctively covering his ears, even he could practically hear that female voice in that memory scream at his stupidity.

He decided to move his thoughts elsewhere.

Emilia, in the meantime, was doing paperwork back inside the mansion. Subaru hadn't predicted the sheer amount of work she had on her hands due to the upcoming Selection.

Still, he wants to help her. Sure that he might not be able to do much. But there had to be something!

But… Outside of using magic on the walls, his chores, the upcoming picnic… And also maybe a few of his best comedy jokes, he drew a blank.

"Guess I'll wing it," Subaru said to himself.

"Subaru-kun, we should continue our chores if you want to have another picnic later," Rem said to the young man.

Subaru jumped to his feet, "You're absolutely right! We should finish quickly, but professional! Otherwise your nee-san will have my hide!"

"I'm sure it'll make a fine coat," Rem commented.

"Well, that's your opinion, I'll rather have it remain on me, thank you very much," Subaru replied, getting the sarcasm.

With their little joking session done, Subaru and Rem left the courtyard, the seventeen year old man putting the wooden sword back into the small tool shack before continuing onward to do the daily chores.

An hour past…

Then two…

Finally, three hours go by…

We find our… Heroes, for the lack of better term, relaxing under the shade of a tree just outside the mansion's proximity, enjoying sitting upon a large blanket set upon the ground with a basket or two opened, revealing delicious food.

It appeared to be the right call, Emilia's stress had been blow out with the calming serenity of nature and a good picnic. Rem got another chance to hang out with Subaru, enjoying how optimism as he commented on various subjects. Not to mention Puck, who enjoyed eating numerous snacks.

Strangely enough, Puck's mannerism at times seems to remind him of something else… Is something about capturing cards?

Anyhow, now it was time for Natsuki Subaru to understand what happened to get her mood all stressed out.

"So… I know this mighty rude… But what happened in the capital?" Subaru questioned.

A brief silence hanged in the air, the only sounds heard being the chirping of birds and Puck's nibbling on a hard snack.

Emilia set down a teacup, they had brought a tea set with them before coming here.

And she began to explain, explain many things in great detail. With each passing moment she continued to chat, the dormant emotions within Subaru rose with steadily increasing anger. Many questions plagued his mind, and many more thoughts filled his head as the morality he grew up with conflicted with the propaganda and reality that this world attempted to drive into him.

It wasn't right.

How could people be so prejudiced against one another?

Couldn't everyone just get along and leave Emilia along?

 _Why can't everyone just be happy?_

The foreign thought agreed with him.

But, he remembered just a few hours back, that he wished to helped Emilia in obtaining her victory in the selection, because that's what she wants, she wants to be the kingdom's leader.

And she had a good wish to back it up too.

Everyone can be equal in society.

 _How utterly naive to believe that only one person can change an entire nation's prejudice. There will always be someone who disagrees with another._

Subaru clenched his teeth as his eyes narrowed in a evil appearance, that damn thought was so contracting to the other one. It was like a split personality all together.

He calmed himself a bit down, he didn't want to make too much of a scene.

Still, his anger boiled over, and it was very apparent. He failed quite miserably when it came to hiding his own emotions.

"That's bullshit!" Subaru exclaimed, "How can they just toss aside your dream, your reasoning to wanting to be the ruler, just because you so happy to look like the witch!? Just because you're half elf doesn't mean you're the same person, damn it!"

"I agree with Subaru," Rem said, "Subaru showed me that appearance doesn't matter, but what's inside is what counts."

"Thank you, Rem!" Subaru said, causing the girl to smile with the thanks. "Rem agrees, and I'm sure everyone here agrees as well! They just need to know who you are before they can judge you!"

"It's not that simple," Emilia replied, "There's a lot of prejudice against my being half elf and having silver hair."

"Tch," Subaru bit his lip, then sat crisscross back down on the blanket, his fingers tapping against his ankles as he thought hard.

"I know you're trying to help, Subaru," Emilia began, "But please, promise me that you won't get involved in my trying to win the selection," She said.

Subaru's eyes widened, he looked to her, "H-How can I promise something like that? I want to help you!"

"I know, but I also know about you," Emilia continued, "You'll do something rash, something you might not forgive yourself or others might look down on you for it."

He looked to Rem for support, but even she stayed quiet.

"Gr, fine…" Natsuki Subaru gave in to the request, "I promise you."

He never felt so useless.

* * *

The dusk of sunlight faded in the distance, the dark bluish hue of the night making its way into the land as the moon shone dimly in the sky. But, one could barely see the moon in this cloudy, ominous atmosphere. In this quiet, vacant environment, Natsuki Subaru practiced on his own time with a wooden sword. His mind, filled with thoughts of everything that occurred, and anything to come in the future.

What could he do?

Nothing.

He knew that… He knew that…

Still, with only the burning torches of the mansion lighting the courtyard ever so much, he flowed through random motions just to burn off energy and sweat off disturbing thoughts.

His grip tightened, breathing slow and steady, but his mind was anxious and unfocused.

Until, it had something to focus on.

 _Something's there._

Subaru shot upright in attention, as if some sort of survivor's instinct just screamed at him to remain alert.

He heard the distant sound of running footsteps, they were barely there, but with each passing moment they grew louder, approaching closer.

The man's eyes turned towards the direction of the mansion's only entrance, the tiny, arched gateway of stone that carriages would go in and out of.

 _Something's there._

The foreign thought put Subaru on edge.

He stepped closer to the entrance, his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the road.

"Petra…? The village children?" He could vaguely recognize the children's' silhouettes.

"S-Subaru! Help!" Petra cried out, her voice quivering with fear.

It was only her and three others.

A small portion of their clothes was covered in the scent of blood.

"Rem! Ram!" Subaru yelled as loudly as he could to alert the mansion.

 _Something's there._

"Get inside the mansion, now!" Subaru yelled, the foreign thought had repeated that same line three times, he would not ignore it!

The children ran towards the mansion.

Something harsh impacted against the walls to the left of him, but the stone held firm and did not yield.

Natsuki Subaru took a few steps back from the entrance, he was in no position to engage a foe alone, he didn't have that sort of skill set.

Then he saw it.

A group, he counted in his sight at least seven in total, formed in a semi-circle line just before the mansion's walls.

"Damn it, Roswaal didn't return with Emilia or Ram… Perfect timing as always," Subaru said to himself, he didn't blame the man, but it appeared like bad things always occurred to happen when he's not around-.

Wait, if only four of those children came here, and they were partially covered in blood, running away from the village.

Oh God.

 _They're all dead._

"You _bastards_ ," Subaru growled at the unknown group, the foreign thoughts bleeding into his response.

"Subaru-kun!"

"Barusu, retreat!"

That caught his attention, and he bolted right then and there.

The moment he turned his head to get back to the mansion's building.

All hell broke loose.

"Al Fuma!" A multitude of ice crystals formed in the air within only seconds time, launching like crossbow bolts at the group of invaders. But they evaded, leaping away from the attack before it could manage to hit them.

He glanced back, stopping his feet just in front of the stairway leading upward into the doorway. Subaru could hear the sounds of either spells or weapons bashing against other parts of the walls, but they did not fall.

"Heh, guess it was a good thing I reinforced them," Subaru grinned at his tactical planning. He called to Ram, who was just a few meters in front of him, "Ram-chi! Who are these people!?"

"Witch's Cult!" She spat out the word with malice and disgust.

"So clearly bad guys," Subaru said to himself, taking only a brief look at his wooden sword.

He looked back up, to see Rem going mad.

Her horn lit up like a beacon in the night, the morning star swinging left and right with deadly efficiency. The blue-haired maid was already coated in a decor of blood, white and black clothing blurred with crimson reds. The weapon's chain rattled loudly in the air as Rem spun it around, taking apart a cult member with a splatter of pure, raw gore.

The demon girl's body turned quickly, slamming her hand into another's face and crushing whoever lay within into the ground below her. She looked up with a grin on her face, but the eyes remained focused and clear on protecting the mansion's residents behind her.

There were more incoming through the entrance, his plan may have worked to force them down a single line, but they still outnumbered the defenders by a large margin.

"I can't be the only one not fighting," Subaru said to himself, closing his eyes and concentrating on the magic circuits within.

"Trace, on."

A lone magic circuit switched to life, occupied with the sound of a sword clanging harshly against metal inside of his head.

"Reinforcing basic material…" He said, directing the prana in his body into the wooden sword. "Excelling every manufacturing process… Trace, off."

It was made of wood, but it was still a sword.

Now, it was a magically reinforced sword as hard as forged iron.

He opened his eyes to see Ram sliced two cult members in one go with her magic.

"Ram! Move!" Subaru called out.

Ram's attention turned as she leapt back towards Subaru, avoiding a nasty surprise of fire spells that traveled right past her previous position and destroyed the small building that Emilia had generally talked to spirit in.

"That was her favorite spot too!" Subaru exclaimed in anger, "Ram! There's too many!" He said as he swung his weapon at a priest had retreated before he was hit by the japanese man.

"I said to retreat, Barusu! Get Emilia to safety!" She explained as he conjured a gust of wind that forced another group to retreat, but one didn't make it as his body was separated into three pieces, more blood spilling onto the grass.

"Hiyah!" Subaru yelled as she struck downward on a cult member, the weapon giving the enemy a concussion from blunt force trauma. "Darn it, I don't have any good weapons for me to use!"

"Subaru-kun! Go!" Rem yelled at him, her left arm dripping with her life fluids, yet it slowly healed due to her accelerated healing factor.

"Fine! But I'll be back!" Subaru yelled as he rushed up the stairway and took a quick glance back, seeing the two twins work in conjunction to eliminate the invaders, not allowing them passage into the mansion and keeping them back.

He opened the door, spotting the kids around Emilia who was up the stairway.

"We're under attack, the Witch's Cult according to Ram," Subaru explained, "Is there any way to defeat them or some sort of safe place?"

Emilia frowned, "Well, there's a secret passageway in one of the mansion's rooms that lead underground."

"Take that, but what about Rem and Ram?" Subaru questioned.

Emilia didn't respond, she didn't have an answer to him, "They can get away easier if they don't have to worry about us."

But Subaru could read the underlying words, "No way am I leaving them behind, there has to be a way to save everyone."

Then the door blasted open, Ram's body flying through the air before hitting the wall.

The children screamed.

Subaru's eyes widened in shock, he rushed to check Ram's condition.

Spluts of blood dripped from her mouth, her head was crooked at an angle, and the front clothes were burnt with fire damage.

"No... " Subaru's hands clenched, eyes narrowing darkly, "Leave! Go! Emilia! Go!" He yelled at her, prompting her to start heading off with the children.

"You better stay alive, Subaru!" Emilia yelled at him.

He gripped the wooden sword in his hands, and stood up, turning around as he walked towards the entrance.

Ram was dead.

He needed to know the cause.

"Trace, on," Subaru said.

He felt two magic circuits flick to life, and left them to passively reinforce his body. He needed to be at his best condition to face something that could kill one of the maid sisters.

His eyes widened again as he took in the sight of the courtyard.

It was a bloodbath.

There was bodies and blood littered everywhere.

But a chain with a morning star lay on the ground, he looked around for Rem, and spotted her figure in the air, straining against some unseeable force.

His eyes spotted the culprit.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! My brain trembles at the thought of your efforts!" The voice yelled with insane laughter.

"Let her go!" Subaru yelled as she ran down the stairway and stopped just abruptly before the Witch's Cult.

"Oh?" The man, the only one without a hood one, his strange brown haircut befitted his mad demeanor. "Who's this? Who's this, who's this?" He repeated words quite a bit, his fingers moving wildly, his teeth chattering before his mouth opened to bite the tip of his index finger, blood spluttering forth from the act.

Rem's voice, weakened by exhaustion, spoke, "S-Subaru-kun… Run…" She said as she tried to look at him.

"Oh!? You a believer of love, believer of this man? Love! Ah, such a strange force! But that love will not save you! Only if you believe in her love! Love! Love! Love! Do you find salvation!" He ranted on in ridiculous ways that Subaru couldn't stomach the sight of.

"Let. Her. Go," Subaru commanded.

The man looked at him for a brief moment, then smiled widely, "As you wish,"

Then, Rem's form twisted.

A crunch could be heard.

Before her body fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

"Rem!" Subaru said, rushing towards her prone form, he fell on his knees as he tried to check her condition, hoping to dear kami that she lived.

His hands trembled.

"You… You bastard, I'll kill you!" Subaru said, raising up and forgetting all common sense, charged at the man before him.

But Subaru suddenly had his body being held at multiple points by hands he could not see, they squeezed him, causing him to drop his weapon as he felt his entire, despite its magic reinforcement, struggle to fight against it.

"Surprise, surprise, surprise!" The man continued, "Your smell, strange it is, but not of her love! Like metal! Metal! But, I could care less about metal…" He trailed off as he approached Subaru.

"Let this been known, oh Subaru-kun, that I, Betelgeuse Romanee-Conti!" He started while twisting his body in a odd motion and then freezing to look directly in Subaru's eye. "You, who might have been fated to be with that girl! Didn't realize…"

"B-Bastard!" Subaru grunted out.

Betelgeuse moved back in an upright position, "Subaru-kun," He mockingly, "Didn't you know?"

"Fate is truly slothful." He finished.

Then Subaru felt his entire body be squeezed and explode in a burst of blood.

Natsuki Subaru died.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** After thinking about it more thoroughly, I am stating that I was wrong. Subaru and Shirou are not alike, I didn't state they were the same or extremely similar, though, I said that they had some similarities. Though it probably came out wrong due to my part, and I was thinking a little hastily.

Anyhow, I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story. And am astounded by the constructive support I've gotten in some PMs. I'm no professional writer, I'm just a college student seeking to learn more, both on how to write, and how to create my own indie game in the future. I will try my best to impart the knowledge given to me by you, my readers, onto the story so that you can have higher quality reading material!

Just keep in mind, it probably won't go from above decent to EX Noble Phantasm writing in a single chapter, haha! Now enjoy the chapter everyone!

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 13: Restarting Fate

 _A field, a long drawn out plain of coarse, dry dirt. It had no end, it continued for miles, upon miles, upon miles… There was no rhyme or reason on why this sea of gray and brown stood the way it was, distant yet close, awe-inspiring but horrible in scope with the countless number of swords, blades, stabbed onto the ground in varying angles._

 _No, that was incorrect, there was a purpose to this ravaged wasteland._

 _To the very single grains that made the destroyed earth, to the brown, dusk colored sky that lighted the world without a single sign of any sun. Those ticking gears, slowly turning without a sound, hanging high above, below, and in between the clouds continued to move at such a sluggish pace from a distance._

 _There was no wind, but the sound of wind remained, no warmth no chill, a constant temperature with little to no humidity, perfect for conditions to retain the longest life that the metals those blades were forged in without rusting._

 _Yet, every single one of those weapons, whether the western swords of Europe or the long curved katanas of Japan, retained the same cracked, rusted stature… All of them in the same condition._

 _He stood in the midst of it all, in a place with nothing but this wretched environment. Natsuki Subaru remained at that single spot, both lost, yet knowing, where exactly he was at in this vast, violent realm._

 _He could vaguely recollect that last time he has seen this scene, its uncanny difference to that of the fire could not compare one to another, but, there was a link there. This was a landscape shaped by a forge's flame, shaped into being by an anvil that none other could match, only to create a blade meant for a scabbard that would never unite in its lifetime._

 _One could walk for ages across this landscape, yet they will find no spot the same due to the beyond numbering shapes, sizes, and decorative weapons that litter this dimension._

 _But, Natsuki Subaru didn't have too, he knew where he was going._

 _So he walked._

 _And walked…_

 _And walked…_

 _And walked…_

 _He traversed the still and expansive earth, over flat plains and rolling hills, always covered in a blanket of swords. However, his endless search came to an abrupt end._

 _Because the world vanished as a shadow overtook his vision, that of a purple hand with claw-like fingers._

* * *

The crystal blue skies greeted him as his vision was suddenly accomplices by the new sights. Indeed, the sun shone brightly as gentle fluffy white clouds slowly moved, providing brief moments of shade to those that happened to be below them. But this was nothing new, for he had already experienced this a few days before.

Natsuki Subaru felt like his heart was going to burst from the rate it bumped in his chest, the memories were still fresh in his mind, but the emotions behind them were dimmed down by the tightly knit memory that had he felt his body taken too before coming back.

Before, Returning by Death.

"Subaru-kun? Are you not feeling well?" The voice of Rem gained his attention as the man looked towards the blue-haired girl.

He took notice of the picnic basket in her hold and glanced around to see Meili looking up curiously at him.

Subaru grasped his face with one hand, trying to recollect his bearings as his mind dated how far back Return by Death had taken him.

Three days.

Subaru had gone back three days to when he, Rem, and Meili had a picnic at the village. Or at least, right before they had headed off.

"Yeah! I'm fine! Just a thought popped up in my head, but it's all cool now!" Subaru exclaimed cheerfully, giving out a sheepish grin to accompany his expression.

He'll have more time to think later, even as the inside of his mind barely clung on to sanity. If that foreign memory… If he could even call it that, had not enveloped him, Subaru would most likely past the edge for a period of time.

Even if he could recall the death of both Ram and Rem, how Rem's figure was twisted, contorted, and squeezed out her life with nothing by a gesture of that insane man.

He swallowed the bile that came up to his throat.

Meili smiled and skipped on ahead with a carefree expression, both Rem and Subaru followed behind the small child as they all walked towards the village.

Subaru looked to Rem as they trekked along the road.

"Rem…" He trailed off, vaguely recalling some of Betelgeuse's words. "What do I smell like?"

Rem remained silent, he could see her just barely look confused at the question, but she kept her composure with professional grace.

"The witch… And steel," Rem answered him.

He nodded, so the witch's scent had returned to him, makes sense given that he had just returned back from death after battling the Witch's Cult, and failing miserably. He couldn't help but bite his lip, those thoughts were just so fresh on his mind that it was hard to ignore when to him, it happened only mere moments before.

"Well, best I take a bath again after this, haha!" Subaru made a light joke about the stench, but his inner thoughts lie in what exactly this 'steel' meant. Beatrice, Rem, and even the Witch Cult's leader had all mentioned this scent of the forged metal alloy.

The picnic went off similar, but not exactly like had gone beforehand. The barely kept hidden emotional trauma that lay deep within Subaru affected the lighthearted tone of the surrounding atmosphere. However, it had given him a chance to calm down.

An hour past without incident.

Natsuki Subaru decided it best to investigate the village.

He had asked a few villagers if anything seemed off in the day, but couldn't get any leads related to the Witch's Cult. Subaru took care in what words he said, knowing that the anything related to the witch in some matter was considered extreme taboo.

He banged his head on a wall, "Damn it! What am I supposed to do? I got nothing!" He exclaimed at himself. "Think…" Subaru tried to recall the memory of the previous timeline.

There was quite a load of information he gleaned from the moments before his death. He knew the leader of the Cult, but could not detect the method in which the bastard had killed them with. Or, he could not see the way he crushed them.

It clicked, were invisible attacks so difficult to understand?

 _There were, after all, plenty of invisible magecraft spells that could affect a person in some form or matter._

And that was another thing, Natsuki Subaru realized that these foreign memories had a few points to them.

The memories can sometimes contradict one another.

They hold a lot of information concerning his own spells, but they are vague, brief, and sometimes difficult to understand.

Any emotion that leaked from them came with a large amount of intensity when it came to saving a person. Otherwise, it felt empty, which unnerved him.

Whatever, or whoever , these memories had belonged to was a type of human that Natsuki Subaru just couldn't understand. They felt so… So… Foreign! As if the person was a human shell that could only feel fulfilled by the action of saving someone or helping somebody.

But there was a certain warmth with them when it came to the other individuals that appeared, so, in that regard the person held humanity.

'Thank god for that, I don't want to have devil's memories!' Subaru thought to himself. There was a difference between a devil and a demon, and he knew two good demons.

But, all for naught, there wasn't any information available to him. They attacked in a few days from now, in the dead of night, from what he knew, the Witch's Cult had attacked the village which is why he had asked around in the first place. Unfortunately, the villagers didn't have anything of knowledge.

Thus ended the first day.

* * *

Natsuki Subaru found himself being brushed aside once more with Rem's counter, this time, the demon make girl had decided to apply a bit more effort than usual, the swing of a staff disarming Subaru's own wooden sword into the air, the practice weapon spinning about before landing flat with a thunk on the grass. The Japanese man retreated backward, avoiding a swing, and moved to recover his sword, only to be bashed on the head.

He fell onto the ground, small pockets of dust thrown into the air by his body's impact. Subaru rubbed the back of his head, then darted toward the weapon once more.

Rem took a five-foot step, blocked Subaru's path, and brought the long wooden tool crashing downward. This time, however, he rolled out of the way and grasped the handle of the sword before standing right back upright.

His palms were sweaty, knees weak, and arms were heavy from the constant ongoing practice during the past hour. He was unfocused, making rash decisions that led to him being hit multiple times.

Like just now.

A staff slammed on his neck, slapping it harshly and causing Subaru to flinch in pain.

"Dead," Rem simply said before lowering the staff. "Break time, Subaru-kun," She finished.

"We can keep going," Subaru said, forcing himself to stand despite his legs shaking in reluctance. "I have to get stronger…"

"You've made a lot of progress in a short amount of time," Rem complimented, "But you can't push yourself Subaru, take a rest, I'll handle the rest of the chores for the day."

Natsuki Subaru glanced up, this is similar to when Rem had left to get tea previously then Emilia and Ram had returned home. "No, I must do my own work. Just give me a few minutes and I'll be right up. Emilia-tan and Ram-chi should be back pretty soon… Don't you think?" He added the last part to avoid suspicion, not that he wanted to hide the fact, but it the speaking of knowing such events would lead into a difficult conversation.

"Very well," Rem conceded to Subaru's determination, "After some rest, we will prepare for their arrival."

"And afterward, can you bring some broken material to my room?" Subaru questioned.

 _It was important to practice magic every night, his father taught him this as an important fact if he hoped to become a decent mag*s._

Rem tilted her head at the odd request, but if he wished for it, she would do so. Besides, not that they had much use for the material after its purpose was shattered, sometimes by Subaru's own mishaps and mistakes when working throughout the mansion.

She loved how he can be clumsy like that and still remain positive.

Rem nodded, "Yes, of course, I will!"

"Thanks, Rem, you're the best!" Subaru gave her a cheerful thumbs up, a grin on his face.

Rem's heart skipped a beat.

It tended to do that a lot lately, maybe she should get a healer?

She glanced to Subaru.

Nah.

* * *

The darkness of the sky hung outside the windows of a dimly lit room brightened only by a few candle lights with small flames. The bed remained still and folded neatly, the door into the room closed shut to avoid disturbance, and the mirrors reflecting the image before them. In the area, a vast array of broken tools, vases, plates, and other materials lay riddled around the bedside. On one side of the room, these objects were either fixed, blown apart into pieces, or remained unchanged, while the other side retained all the items not yet having been experimented on.

Natsuki Subaru sat in the middle of it all in a criss-cross position, sighing loudly as he reeled his hand back from a failed reinforcement. The target of his frustration, a torn doll of a blond girl, it's head barely holding on by a string.

"Why…?" Subaru questioned himself as he once again grabbed hold of the doll and placed the toy with the rest of his failures and successes. "Another failure…"

The success and failure ratio was quite staggering for him, for every time he succeeded, he failed other five times. He couldn't wrap his head around why of all times, he failed so often in comparison to his previous successions in Reinforcement.

There was something missing, the highest changes of managing a decent Reinforcement was when he was working with tools, especially those with metal in or around them. In particular, bladed tools, such as kitchen knives, were incredibly much easier for him to not only succeed with but the speed in which he did it was astoundingly faster.

His main purpose for wanting to practice his magic was to see if he could, in some way, further, improve the Reinforcement spell. He could use Structural Grasp well enough, but Reinforcement evaded him when it came to items such as the doll, or…

Subaru glanced toward a wooden carving or the small pieces and sawdust that was left of it. He rubbed his hands, which were now bandaged up in numerous places due to the cuts received from the implosion.

Something was missing, he knew this, he most likely had to due with the intent. Previously, when using Reinforcement, he had an intent in mind that always corresponded with the foreign memories in his head. Reinforcing the walls to protect the people within… Reinforcing himself to be faster to save someone… Reinforcing a wooden sword to train so he could save people.

They all had a link.

But, when he didn't have something in mind related to that, using the magic was a lot more difficult. As if he was alone, without a guide to flow through the motions with him.

He took in a deep breath, "Alright, let's try again," Subaru said to himself as he grasped hold of a farming tool, a pitchfork, and placed it in front of him.

The seventeen-year-old placed a hand onto the item, closing his eyes in focus.

"Trace… On."

He blanketed his mind of all thoughts, remaining concentrated with all his willpower on the task at hand, instead of wandering his thoughts elsewhere.

A magic circuit activated from within, this time not occupied by the clanging of metal.

"Basic composition analyzed…" He trailed off.

The pitchfork was made a few years ago, it had gone through many harvests before snapping when an overzealous farmer tried using it to pry a wagon from some mud.

"Basic materials, reinforce," Subaru finished.

He felt his inner _od_ fill his magic circuit, which in turn channeled the _od_ into _prana_ to be used in his magecraft of Reinforcement. The _prana_ transferred over from him to the pitchfork, the rusted iron on its top vanishing from sight and being replaced in pristine condition, while the wooden shaft's splinter-causing handle smoothed and softened to the workable hardwood.

Natsuki Subaru cut off the connection, deactivating his magic circuit to stop the flow of _od_ and _prana_.

That was one thing he learned while working in the past hour, how to turn off, at least a single, magic circuit without having to vocally say it for the needed concentration.

He hadn't experimented with two magic circuits yet, considering he had barely mastered even one of them earlier on.

"Success," He grinned, raising the pitchfork, appreciating the feel of the object's smooth exterior. Subaru placed it against the wall along with the rest.

"Alright, next one," He said to himself grabbing a chair leg.

Natsuki Subaru would continue until he fell asleep after another failure, deactivating his circuit before the world of dreams took him.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:** Once again, I thank you all for the support you have given me! This note is just a shorty, so you can all head to the chapter real soon!

I blame Fate/Kaleid, Fate/Grand Order, and actually getting around to playing Dragon Age: Inquisition for my absence. Not to mention this tooth ache, ugh, so ANNOYING! Got to visit a dentist soon, I swear.

 **Tsun:** Oni translates into demon in english, and I think we all know demons, or Oni, are like in the Re:Zero universe is vastly different than the western interpretation. I'm referring them as demons because that is what they are subbed as in the Anime. Also, thank you for helping me catch that mistake with the Witch.

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 14: Perceiving the Concept

 _How many times has he come back to this scene?_

 _The scene where flames scorched the horizon, where black smoke and ash covered the brutality and death all around him?_

 _He couldn't survive, it was absolute hell that even a child could understand._

 _He couldn't escape it, no matter what occurred this place, this red world, would remain in his memory, whether he lived one lifetime or a hundred._

 _This moment defined who he was._

 _But who was he?_

 _An ideal?_

 _A person?_

 _A hero of justice?_

 _Or perhaps just a victim caught within the ravaging fires that plagued his soul?_

 _No… The fire had already shaped his soul long ago, even as the years go by will this sea of orange and red continue to burn, heat, and fuel the furnace that made his soul. The screams, the cries… They made him._

 _But there was a particular point that created him, a crucial moment, a period that he looked up and wished to grant with all that he was._

 _The rain came, drowning the flames, washing away the ashes that remained of the unfortunate._

 _His body lay there, covered by the crushing rubble that shielded and struck him. They were pushed off by a man, a man that cried as he reached for him, but did not cry for him._

 _The man cried because he hadn't saved him._

 _The man cried because he had saved himself._

 _Yet, he could not feel envious of the man, because the man's happiness made him happy. Because he wanted to feel happy like him._

 _This moment is what made him._

 _At this moment, he was born._

* * *

He awoken in a sore matter, slowly raising himself out of his stupor from sleeping in a awkward position on the floor. Different objects numbered in dozens around him, all of which were experiments from the previous night. Natsuki Subaru rubbed his shoulder, gripping it in an attempt to numb down the pain, he stood up and stretched. His eyes looked towards the window, noticing the sunlight shining bright through the glass panes.

'Did I oversleep?' He questioned only to himself and walked over some of the tools as he made his way to dress in a clean attire.

Once he was dressed in a clean suit befitting the servant status of the mansion, Subaru picked up and organized the various items into a neat pile, while placing all the broken material and failed pieces into a bag to easily discard.

'If Ram or Rem saw this room before I woke up… I'll probably never hear the end of it,' Subaru thought.

After finishing, Subaru hauled the glorified trash bag to rid of it. He rubbed his eyes with a free hand to ease the drowsiness of awakening moments beforehand. The seventeen-year-old man walked down the hallway, the only sound being his shoes that echoed quietly through the building with every step on the cold, marble flooring.

"Subaru-san!"

Natsuki Subaru briefly glanced behind him, spotting a little girl excitingly walking up to him.

"Meili, good morning?" Subaru said, unsure if it was still the morning.

Despite now having her abilities to tame mabeast sealed, Meili was kept under house arrest, being that staying in the mansion's vicinity, before being able to leave and rejoin living with the villagers. She could visit the village if Rem or Ram accompanies her, otherwise she was to stay until deemed safe for everyone's sake.

The child twisted her face in confusion, before correcting him, "It's nearly noon, but I guess it's still morning…"

"Really? I guess time past by quickly…" He trailed off, "So, how's the little tamer doing today?" He said cheerfully.

Meili frowned, "I could've tamed a mabeast if Roswaal-sama didn't seal my ability… I wouldn't have had them hurt you, honest! It was a one-time thing!" She exclaimed.

"I believe you," He said, patting her head, much to the child's annoyance.

"Subaru!" She said as he tried to pry his hand off her head.

" _Shir*u!" A white-haired girl exclaimed, waving her arms quite frantically._

Subaru smiled, Meili and whoever that girl did seem to share similar personalities, the girl must've been the sweetest and kindest thing.

Huh, strange, why did he feel a rock seem to drop in his stomach all the sudden?

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Meili yelled, finally succeeding in her effort to remove Subaru's hand. "Ram-chi wanted to see you, but she was busy with something so she sent me!" The girl exclaimed.

"Best not disappoint her then! I'll just drop this off real quick then head there right away!" Subaru exclaimed with optimism. "Unfortunately I might get lost, so make sure I know the way, Meili!"

The child's eyes positively lit up, "Yes! I'll make sure your terrible sense of direction doesn't lead you to the forest again!"

'Hey, my sense of direction is not that terrible…' He thought to himself in reply, not saying it out loud.

The small child excitingly 'guided' Subaru through the mansion, where they reached the area in which the Japanese man rid himself of the bag before following Meili towards the kitchen. Once both of them arrived, Rem greeted them.

"Afternoon, Subaru," Rem said.

"Hey, Rem! Where's your sister? She said that she needed me for something?" Subaru questioned the blue-haired girl.

"Nee-chan is over there," She pointed across the large kitchen towards the doorway that marked the entrance point into the dining room.

"Thanks!" He said.

Meili went up to Rem, "When's the food going to be ready?"

Rem replied, "Soon."

Natsuki Subaru called back, "Let me know too! I wouldn't miss your cooking for nothing!" He exclaimed before having his ear pulled against his will, his body following in motion.

"Barusu, a word," Ram commanded as she brought Subaru into the dining room, which was quiet and won't out any other people.

"Ow," Subaru said, rubbing his ear now that she stopped pulling on it. "You didn't have to do that, I'm fragile!"

"If you were you wouldn't survive being here," Ram joked in her own matter.

"Eh… I guess you got a point there," Subaru gave in to Ram's statement. "So, what can I do for you?" He questioned.

"I doubt this, but have you noticed recently?"

"Noticed what?" Subaru replied though he was mentally wondering if perhaps Ram had caught onto something relating to the Witch's Cult.

"Should've known," Ram said.

"Wait, wait," Subaru said, cutting off the girl, quickly thinking of something that could help gain a lead on what Ram was thinking, "Do you mean the bad feeling coming from out of the mansion?"

Ram nodded, "There's a particular feeling that resides within Roswaal's domain, since the scent on you had increased dramatically which is odd considering the last time this occurred we the mabeast incident, I theorized you might have some form of relationship, willingly or not, to her."

"You mean the Witch?" He confirmed.

"Yes," Ram replied.

"Well, let it be known that I'm not in liege with her, not ever!" He exclaimed, "But I do know that whatever is going to happen might strike the village first before the mansion. The mabeasts struck the village first, so it's only a guess that whatever's out there will want to get rid of any supporters or allies," Subaru explained, carefully picking his words so not to lead anything towards his unique ability, Return by Death.

Ram appeared thoughtful, perhaps thinking over what he had just said. It took a few seconds before she replied to him, "You may be right, but in that case, we should fortify the mansion against invaders."

"Hold on, I know we're supposed to protect Emilia-tan, but I have a feeling that whatever is going to happen will occur tonight and we can't just _leave the villagers to die out there!_ " He started calmly but his voice rose unexpectedly at her.

The pink-haired girl frowned, "Watch your tone, Barusu, I would never intend to do such a thing. We will evacuate the villagers into the mansion's vicinity."

Natsuki Subaru breathed a sigh of relief, before saying, "Sorry, I apologize for my tone."

Ram remained silent, then replied, "Very well, I'm my good graces I shall forgive you. Now, go and prepare, you'll be coming with me to the village."

"Huh- oh, yeah! Sure!" He exclaimed with determination.

'Should probably bring something just in case,' Subaru thought to himself as he turned and walked away from Ram, 'My practice sword perhaps? Not that it did much good last time, but it's still better than nothing… The village has some swords I can use probably.'

His train of thought wondered as he made his way to the tool shed outside of the building.

* * *

The sunlight was still high in the sky… Somewhat, it was beginning to dim down, most likely a little past o-fourteen hundred. Natsuki Subaru and Ram were both inside the village by that point, the japanese man's eyes darting around, observing for any untrustworthy figures. However, his untrained ways didn't catch anything out of the ordinary.

He sighed.

"What's wrong, Barusu?" Ram questioned as she walked through the village with him.

"Nothing just thought that maybe it'll be easier than I expected, I was wrong," He replied to her.

"Of course, like you have the experience or the skill for anything sort of boasting aloud," Ram said.

"That hurts you know," Subaru retorted, observing the surrounding area.

 _He couldn't find any good sniping spots to look anyway._

'Sniping spots?' Subaru thought in confusion, 'That's a new one…'

"Ah, Subaru-san, Ram-sama, what brings you to the village?" The village chieftain asked of them.

"Hey," Subaru greeted kindly, "We came to tell you that you should probably evacuate back to the mansion," He said with a wave of his hand.

The village leader's eyes widened in surprise, "Why? We can't just pick up and leave so suddenly without good reason."

"Well-"

 _A delicate situation, simple folk, half-truth fairs better._

Subaru coughed, "Excuse me, well, we have come to believe through some evidence and observation that the village will be attacked by a band of criminals. It'll be better for everyone that we retreat to the mansion where it is safer than staying here."

He would follow the foreign thought's advice, knowing it probably has better experience than him, and who the hell would believe something like 'the mabeasts are acting up again' when they know it to be sealed recently?

He wants to get this right the first time, uh, the second time around.

Ram arched a slight eyebrow at him, but remained silent, letting him deal with the villagers.

A flock of birds flew over the village from the southern direction.

Even Subaru knew that wasn't good news.

"And you should probably do so quickly," He said, "Lead the children first, take a few men and have them escort them towards the mansion first."

The village leader, chieftain, elder… Whatever, agreed to this.

"We had suspicions this might happen, but never so soon, very well!" He boasted his voice loudly, "Everyone, we are to evacuate the village towards the mansion! Prepare hastily!"

Another sigh of relief escaped Subaru, "Sure am stressed today…" He trailed off.

Ten minutes pass…

Twenty… The children leave with a few other villagers...

Thirty…

Around the forty minute mark, Natsuki Subaru felt disturbed.

Fifty minutes…

An hour…

That slight orange hue started to decorate the horizon, the sun was dipping down as it made room for the coming night. Subaru felt anxious, the villagers were just about ready, and the children had been escorted safely out of the village.

He sat on a bench, watching some men run about to prepare, he took noticed a man carrying a few swords that were being handed out.

Subaru walked over, "Hey, can you spare one? I doubt my wooden sword here will make much a difference," He asked.

"Huh?" The man said, taking notice, "Oh sure, here, careful, no sheath."

"Thanks," Subaru said, taking the sword and looking it over.

'Structural Analysis,' He thought to himself, examining the blade. 'It'll do, not the best work meant to fend off wild animals not do combat with other swords… But better than nothing. I can make it better, though.'

He walked back to the bench, glancing around before focusing on the sword in hand.

Subaru closed his eyes, "Trace… On."

A lone magic circuit flicked into activation within him.

There was no longer a tingle of pain, his body had adapted to using a single magic circuit. The conversion of small amounts of od into prana to be used for the following spell made its way.

'Reinforcement… Complete,' Subaru opened his eyes, already knowing that the sword in his hands was probably better than any other in the village at this moment.

'That… Happened a lot faster now…' He thought about the success, usually, it took him many more seconds, but now he only did it in a few short ones.

Is he getting better at this?

He could've sworn it would take him much longer before getting to this level of proficiency.

Well, if one could even call him proficient at any magic that was.

 _Something's there._

Subaru stood up instantly, his weapon ready at hand. "Prepare yourselves, I got a bad feeling that we are about to get company!" He exclaimed, looking to see that his sudden shout had gotten people's attention, gathering their focus on being cautious.

He glanced around to see if Ram was nearby, but couldn't spot the pink-haired girl in his sight, most likely at another place in the village or behind one of the buildings.

 _Something's there._

He hadn't yet turned off the magic circuit, and so directed the magical energy currently converting to be reinforcing his body. A single circuit could safely strengthen himself without risk of imploding into multiple, gory pieces.

His body moved.

Swish!

Tang!

Subaru deflected a thrown dagger with the edge of his sword from piercing the chest of an unaware village man. The dagger flinging into the air before harmlessly landing on the ground with a light thud. He lowered his weapon, having swung upward to do such a move before.

'How… How did I see that?' Subaru questioned, amazed at his own capabilities.

 _His senses were improved, all aspects of his body were enhanced from bodily reinforcement. Strength, speed, eyesight, reflexes, durability, hearing, endurance, everything was subjected to the versatile magecraft._

"That explains it," Subaru said out loud, "Get ready!" He shouted.

They numbered in probably a dozen or two of them, the villagers and Subaru that is, while having little to no idea of the quantity of foes that were to face. The enemy mostly had higher training, combat abilities, magic abilities, and insane faith.

Well, scratch the last one, they did have insane faith for sure.

A dozen cultists leaped out of the woods towards the villagers and Subaru, their long clocks covering any hidden weapons and faces from being recognized.

"Aaaaah!" A villager yelled a battle cry as he, and his fellows, charged into the fray with vigor.

"Take this!" Subaru shouted he swung his sword in a horizontal strike at a landing cult member. The cultist brought up a hidden dagger in an attempt to parry Subaru's blow but didn't expect the hidden strength behind it.

Crash!

The dagger broke apart from Subaru's overwhelming strength, his swing continuing its motion and tearing through robe and flesh across the chest region, blood clotting in a vague attempt to starve off dying, but it was useless as the cultist fell to the floor, embracing his death.

"Oh shit!" Subaru said as he held tightly onto his weapon, bringing it back into a ready stance, he didn't expect to shatter the cult member's dagger-like glass!

Not that he'll hold his strength back against these bastards.

He took a step to the side, and ran towards a cultist currently engaging a villagers. Subaru thrust the blade forward to attack the cult member, but the cloaked individual avoided his attack. Subaru's training with Rem allowed him to stop his attack suddenly, stopping himself from stabbing the villager instead. The Japanese man turned and swung, only to miss once more as the cultist dodged his movements.

The member brought out his long dagger-shaped weapon, and vertical slashed at Subaru, seeing how he couldn't bring his sword fast enough to parry, he dodged to the right, rolling across the ground with dust tossed into the air from his momentum.

Subaru noticed the thrown dagger from earlier on the floor, his eyes catching it and subconsciously analyzing its properties, he didn't have time to fully know the weapon and grasped hold of it before tossing it quite excellently at the cultist.

It stabbed the member right in the heart with expert skill, blood being coughed out before the villager sliced the individual's head clean off, an unnecessary move, but it did make the man feel better.

"Phew, good job!" Subaru complimented the man as he stood back up.

"Thanks," He replied, "But we should help the others!"

"Agreed," Subaru said. "We can't deal with them here, this is a losing battle if we stay in the village. _We should tactically retreat, they most likely know guerilla warfare better than we do._ So go help the others quickly!"

"Uh… Yes!" The man exclaimed, rushing off the aid another villager.

"I need to keep my head in the game, no more foreign thoughts!" Natsuki Subaru said to himself, keeping himself calm despite the underlying rage to attack all the cultist due to his last life.

Subaru rushed over to another, this time catching the cult member unaware, stabbing the criminal from the backside with his sword. A slight cheer from the villager and both he and Subaru overwhelmed yet another cult member by sheer numbers and teamwork.

With that, Subaru and the others managed to sweep the other cult members, winning the small battle.

"Okay listen up," Subaru began, having caught his breath. "We leave now, the rest of the carriages left right before we were attacked, correct?" He questioned.

"Right, Subaru-san," A man replied, "But if we were just attacked moments after they had just left…"

Subaru eyes widened, "Did Ram go with them?" He asked.

Another replied, "Yes,"

"Then we have some time! Ram is powerful and she can hold the cultist off, but she won't last forever!" Subaru exclaimed.

With that, Subaru and the villagers ran towards the direction of the evacuating wagons.

* * *

A great explosion lit up in orange and red, but it wasn't one of a trap, no, it was collision of multiple fireballs on a single point, protected only by a spell of wind encasing its residents in a barrier that would allow no harm to come to its denizens so long as its caster had the required magical energy through the gate.

The sounds of combat echoed, some villagers fought meagerly against numbers exceeding their own. As cult member and villagers fought against each other towards their doom, Ram sliced, tore, and cut apart cultist after cultist in a display of magic exceeding even the grandest spellcasters that cult had at its disposal.

Then, a sword impaled the backside of a cult member, before the body was kicked to the ground.

Natsuki Subaru stood there, his breathing heavy as his lungs cried out for air due to having run all the way here, in the distance behind him were the other villagers, trying to catch up to the man who ran faster than any of them due to his magecraft.

"Ram, are you alright?!" Subaru shouted over the sounds of combat, bringing his sword to bear as he parried a cultist's own blade, swinging back at the crazed person with a diagonal strike, but it was blocked and returned.

"Damn!" Subaru yelled as he leaned back, avoiding his neck being cut apart, gripping the sword with two hands he parried an upcoming follow-up, then riposted right back at the enemy. The attack struck, ending the fanatic's life and allowing him a brief moment of rest.

"Barusu, to your left!" Ram exclaimed as she waved her hand, deflecting another blast of fire from hitting the damaged wagons behind her, the wagons who carried those unable to fight.

Subaru took the advice, raising his blade as he glanced towards the direction. He spotted a few magic users who threatened to take down Ram's defenses.

"Gotcha ya!" He replied as finally recovered some of his breathing and rushed over to the attacking cult members. He raised his weapon, only for one of the cultist to blast right at him with a spell.

"Shit!" Subaru yelled in surprised as he used the sword to cover himself, the fireball shot outward and exploded on contact of the sword.

The weapon shattered apart, the handle uselessly falling with Subaru as his body was blasted back onto the ground. He felt pain on his hands and wrists, but reinforcement had saved them from being burned badly, and also spared him of any major injuries outside of those burns and some bruises.

Subaru looked to the handle, the weapon's blade was completely broken into pieces on the ground.

It was now just a reliability.

Just like him.

He struggled to get on his feet, "Again… Every time… I'm sick of this, I'm sick of these guys and I'm sick of being useless!"

He stole the dagger from a nearby cult member's body, and threw it at the magic user, the cult member didn't have time to stop his spellcaster before the dagger struck the side of his head, killing him.

"Take that you crazy wizard rip-off," Subaru insulted.

But now he lost his weapon.

"Ul Frum Dah!" Ram shouted as she conjured another shield to block the four other magic users casting numerous spells at her, aiming for the wagons.

Subaru glanced around him.

He noticed the villagers losing.

A man, dying by being backstabbed.

A cultist slashing the tendons of another.

Ram being blasted again and again with fire, the shield around her growing weaker as her magical energy expended itself. Her face filled with determination despite losing slowly.

The surrounding bodies of both cult and villager.

 _A great fire._

 _A numerous dying people around him._

 _He's tired of this._

He's tired of this!

'I need a weapon…' He trailed off.

 _His body felt hot, burning, like a molting rod pressed against him._

'A powerful weapon… A strong, unbeatable weapon…!'

A duo magic circuits flicked to life, coursing through him, electrifying his nerves. They pushed outward, od pumping into them as prana flooded Subaru's body with extremity.

His hands reached out, body standing upright, the palms reaching to grab something that yet to be there.

 _The image of a legendary blade, grand, formidable, carried by a knight hailing from a distinguished ancestry, his crimson hair a part of his unforgettable character. It was the same knight who chose to wield a run-of-the-mill sword to fend off that terrifying assassin, a sultry, bloodthirsty, and hellbent woman in a seductive dark dress with multiple jagged machetes that glint in the light despite their dark tint of violet and charcoal black._

 _Judging the concept of creation,_

 _It was a sword created eons ago, older than even the witch, handed down generation to generation._

 _Hypothesizing the basic structure,_

 _A large blade, that can be wielded either one-handed or two-handed, but its users always preferred the latter._

 _Duplicating the composition material,_

 _The materials were made long ago, the ingots lost from the passing ages._

 _Imitating the skill of its making,_

 _It was forged by multiple master blacksmiths, all conjoining as one to create the ultimate blade for a hero, it's essence given form with the help of a dragon._

 _Sympathizing with the experience of its growth,_

 _It had been used in only the greatest of battles, with the worthiest of opponents, but it was no stranger with lesser ones. It was used by generations of Sword Saints, blessed to be given to each by the world as the previous died and a new one rose._

 _Reproducing the accumulated years,_

 _Decades to centuries, hundred to a thousand, the sword has pressed with, battling elements and wear with ease, taken care of by each Sword Saint._

 _Excelling every manufacturing process!_

Natsuki Subaru felt his body burn, the heat tempting to burst out, his hands shook as prana formed and condensed into a shape within the grasp of his palms and fingers.

"Trace…!" Subaru said.

His circuits increased their efforts, the two magic lines nearly imploding with magical energy converting at an incredible rate.

A shape took form, a large weapon, a sword, with the handle in his grasp as the energy twisted, contorted, and the concept became realized into the world, _the image projected into the world_.

"On!" He finished.

It became _real._

 _Ryuuken Reido, Dragon Sword Reid._

He struggled to control himself, the sword gripped tightly in his hands as the prana within him threatened to override his senses and reasoning as well as the sense of power coursing through his veins. Small arcs of leaked prana sparked around the Dragon Sword Reid's form, remnants of the recent first-time usage of that particular magecraft.

Subaru raised his head, glaring at the cult members.

They responded in kind, having come out of their stupor and launched a barrage of fireballs at him.

His body _moved_ , his arms suddenly having a will of their own as the _masterfully_ cut down the magic with the Dragon Sword, it sliced and slashed, causing the magic to disperse harmlessly away from him or to be dispelled altogether.

Natsuki Subaru had no skill, Natsuki Subaru was not a Sword Saint.

The Dragon Blade Ried was only wielded by Sword Saints.

As such, the Dragon Blade will make Natsuki Subaru a Sword Saint.

It will accept nothing less.

Subaru rushed forward, the blade trailing behind in a sweeping motion, his speed, his newly acquired skill excelled the cult members' own by miles.

The magic users died on the spot, the sword itself seemed to have reached out in a powerful aftershock nearly seen as a gust of the wind that split apart the cultists into two pieces.

Subaru switched positions quickly, the blade turning in his hands as he twisted and launched his body once again, cutting down another cult members before he could react. Subaru raised the Dragon Sword, parrying a dagger then encircled around him before diagonally slashed across the criminal, killing him.

His body hurts, it hurts so much, it wasn't used to this.

Multiple daggers were thrown at him, he raised Dragon Sword Ried and deflecting each of them with by few simple flicks. Then ran over to them, and cut down their retreating forms, only two or three of them escaped into the forest.

They would pose no threat now.

"I…" Subaru began to say, "Is everyone alright?" He questioned as he relaxed his form.

Then, the Dragon Sword Ried vanished, dispersing into particles of yellow prana lights that disappeared into nothing.

Natsuki Subaru's form swayed, his circuits felt like they were on fire despite now being turned off, his body ached in large amounts of pain; he attempted to take a step towards Ram.

And he collapsed.

Darkness enveloped him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Important Author's Note:** First off, I'll like to sincerely thank everyone for the overwhelming support in the previous chapter. I've tried very hard in improving the overall quality of the story through the numerous tips and hints you, the readers, have provided me. I'm glad to see that I've pulled it off quite well.

Now, concerning the hot topic that is the projection if Reinhard's sword. I myself have had a personal war in whether or not making Subaru trace such a weapon would be right. But I decided to go with it in my gut feeling. Here are the reasons on why I consider Subaru would choose that weapon, and why he even survived doing such a thing.

The information concerning the Dragon Sword Ried… Is very much lacking in every compartment. Like, seriously, I've looked up the sword as much as I could and all I could find is the name and that it's only wielded by Sword Saints and prefers fighting strong opponents. This… Doesn't sound like an A to EX-Ranked Sword in the slightest. A lot of Noble Phantasms have their own little gimmicks similar to what the description of Dragon Sword is, and there are plenty of even D-Ranked Phantasms that have a little sort of sentience (in concerns to particular subjects like preferring to fight heretics or can only be wielded by women).

Thus, Dragon Sword Ried is likely a C- to B+ Ranked Phantasm on the Fate scale. Still powerful, but not god-like in any fashion. With such a lower rank, Subaru has a chance of surviving… Not without consequence, though, yeah, he's fucked up big time, but he's not dead.

And if you're thinking it'll be higher cause of 'He got the skill of a Master Swordsman', let me remind you, one of Emiya's abilities allows him to borrow some of the skill of the previous owner of a Noble Phantasm, sure not to the degree of what happened, but to a limited degree yes.

Also, it totally fits Subaru's personality to go for the strongest thing he has on the bat. He used his shadow magic right away, regardless of the repercussions, in both the show and the novels.

As for how he 'copied' the weapon in the first place when he hadn't unlocked his magic back then… That's a secret, no spoilers now!

Phew! Now that I've spoken my mind, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 15: Unpredicted Redirection

 _A dim, dull light greeted Natsuki Subaru's eyes as he opened them. His sight taking only a few seconds to adjust themselves to the level of brightness. But Subaru already knew where he was, this dry, arid wasteland had become increasingly familiar which each passing moment he revisited it. How could he forget the distinct smell of steel that filled the atmosphere? How he does not recall the inhospitable, yet breathable, air that tickled against his skin with the passing breeze that arrived little too often?_

 _Of course, Subaru recognized the endless, limitless, beyond counting swords that dotted the landscape. He could spot the differences with only a glance, as each blade, each weapon that struck still onto the ground, held its own subtle or noticeable unique feature from one another. There were no words to describe the serenity of the sight, nor were there any that could explain the stomach churning feeling that accompanied the very picture in his vision._

 _Subaru would take a single step forward in this hopeless place, a lone motion forward that would place such a heavy, unyielding weight upon his shoulders. As if he was to take on a burden, a responsibility, that would cause the whole world to go against him if he were to continue on._

 _It was almost maddening, there was no human that could survive such a bearing._

 _No, there were no sane, normal humans that could hold such ideals of even attempting to do such a thing._

 _One had to be broken at their very core, their very soul._

 _But he wasn't that, Natsuki Subaru wasn't broken, because Natsuki Subaru had never experienced such hellish events._

 _Emiya Shirou had._

 _With that, the sword of metal screeching in the air rang through Subaru's ears._

 _He glanced at his left arm._

 _It was an appendage made entirely of metal, composed of blades locking together._

 _Pain._

 _It hurt!_

 _His back, his back hurts!_

 _Pain!_

 _The sound of metal._

 _Natsuki Subaru falls to his knees, his body is tearing itself apart!_

 _Pain! Pain! Pain!_

 _Countless swords are piercing through his, thrusting into and through his body, numerous, beyond counting blades embedded themselves in his flesh._

 _Yet, there was no blood._

 _There was only pain._

* * *

A sharp gasp echoed throughout the room as Natsuki Subaru took a large intake of air from the recent nightmare which had awoken him. His eyes squinched from the brightness of the sun beaming through the nearby window, causing him to subconsciously lift his right arm to block the glaring of the sunlight. However, noticing that the cursed luminance wasn't going to disappear anytime soon, he gave up and adjusted himself slowly to the forsaken beauty awakener.

He turned his head, finally having taken notice of Emilia's sleeping form once again on a nearby chair, resting with her back turned to the windows.

"What happened…?" Subaru questioned, confused at his current predicament and the peaceful atmosphere of the room. The man turned his head to the other side of the bed and took notice of an empty chair, whoever sat there beforehand had gotten up and moved out of the room before Subaru had woke up.

He pressed his left arm on the bedside to sit upright, but the entire left side of his body disagreed with this acting with a numb, yet burning sensation.

"Ack, shit!" He grasped in pain as he reeled right back down, grasping his left arm in hissing pain as it felt like the muscles were numb yet the nerves were like touching boiling water with but a simple movement.

Subaru took a few deep breaths, the pain gradually fading as his body relaxed once again on the comfortable mattress and pillow.

'My body, I've never experienced anything like that before… Did I overdo it in someway? What did I overdo? I can't recall anything clearly...' His thoughts trailed off.

The door creaked open, garnering Subaru's attention away from his thoughts. In the doorway stood Beatrice, the Mansion's library guardian, in her usual uncaring expression. The short blondie took notice of his status almost immediately.

"So, the idiot wakes, this means I no longer need to care for you, I suppose," Beatrice stated simply, as it was now a determined fact.

He wanted to doubt that fact, but he was too busy in doubt of believing she would care.

"I appreciate if you could still keep caring for me, Beako," Subaru said with a smile in statement to his bedridden condition.

"No," She replied instantly, causing Subaru to slump his expression at her quick response.

"Oh, why not?" He responded with a satire tone of hurt.

"Nothing to care, contracted by Emilia to help you until you awoke. Initially thought you received a curse or some sort, however, found it unknown condition. I guess the spell you used beyond the level of your unique gate lines, I suppose," Beatrice explained.

'Gate lines? She must be referring to my magic circuits… I used a spell beyond my level… Wait… I think I remember vaguely now… I made a sword… A strong, powerful sword…' Subaru thought to himself, before looking towards Beatrice to say-

The door shut, Beatrice left the room while he was thinking.

"I'll get back at you for that, Beako," Subaru said.

"Subaru?" A drowsy female voice came from the other side of the room.

"Emilia-tan, good morning!" Subaru said cheerfully, once again getting back up but this time with his right arm, dulling down the pain which he ignored as he sat upright, "This humble servant thanks you for your brilliant healing abilities, surely Emilia-tan has no equal!"

'In terms of spirit arts that is.' His mind thought on the side.

"Subaru! Are you still hurt? Is everything alright? I heard everything from Ram, how could you use such magic?" Emilia questioned the false magus.

"I'm fine!" Subaru lied, "My left side feels a bit stiff, but I guess that's a side effect of some sorts, I'm sure it'll heal over in time," He said.

Emilia frowned, her eyes narrowing at his eyes. "Do not do that, Beatrice and Puck examined those gate lines you have and said that they are in a state similar to gate over usage!"

"I'm a bit lost on what you mean, what's so bad about overusing your gate?" He asked.

Subaru felt something small smack his head, he looked up to see Puck.

"Gate collapse," Puck answered him.

"Gate collapse, Sensei?" Subaru questioned about the unfamiliar term.

The furry spirit levitated itself over to Emilia's shoulder, "It's when you lose the ability to use magic, but in rare cases, it can cause a paralyze or even death. Overuse of your gate generally leads to exhaustion, but it fades. However, the condition of your gate will require a healer that exceeds my daughter's talents."

"Sorry, I wish I could do more, after all, you did for the villagers…" Emilia-tan apologized.

"No, it's fine!" Subaru exclaimed, "It's my own fault for not thinking ahead, in any case, does making a sword really cost so much prana?" He said.

"Prana?" Puck questioned, "It's mana, and it must be similar to duplication magic you did, normally those with the earth affinity can do that spell, but it's not unheard of for others to use it. However, from what we heard, the duplication magic you used far exceeds the limitations of the normal ability."

"At great cost, it seems," Subaru finished.

"The twins were worried about you," Emilia said, "We all were; Ram wanted to scold you quite a bit for such excess use of magic, you should really be more careful, Subaru!" She exclaimed.

"Alright, alright!" Subaru said, raising a hand in defense, "No more super magic like what I did."

"Promise?" Emilia questioned.

"Promise," Subaru replied.

* * *

Natsuki Subaru walked outside the mansion's door, his eyes widening as he spotted numerous tents set up throughout the courtyard, men, women, and children going to and fro from numerous places. There were three to four tents packed together every now and then, with a makeshift campfire in the midst of those groups, they were all villagers, the men holding swords were trying their best to appear professional, but they were conscripts in all but name.

He wondered why exactly the Witch's Cult had not attacked them while he was incapacitated, or perhaps they had but were forced to retreat? However the latter was unlikely, there were no signs of battle in the courtyard outside of hastily placed shelters.

A majority of the villagers rested in the courtyard, but most of the women and children probably spent their nights in the safety of the mansion's rooms.

'Wonder if Rem or Ram is around here,' Subaru thought to himself, his left arm was tied in a sling of sorts, courtesy of Emilia, it hurt to move it about but he could bear with the bear with the pain provided he didn't put any sort of stress, no matter how little, on the limb.

Subaru glanced around, trying to spot either of the twins, he walked his way into the courtyard. While trekking through the encampment, he felt the right side of his back patted by a large hand.

"Well, look who's up and about, Subaru!" A gruff voice said.

Subaru looked at him, "Oh hey man," He greeted.

The rather large villager laughed, "I'm glad to see you up and about! I'm sure you'll recover in no time, you're a hero after all!"

 _A large sense of happiness came over him_ , "No, no, I'm just trying to help that's all!" Subaru hastily said.

He tried to keep himself calm, that sudden burst of emotion that welled within him came out of nowhere, but Subaru had a faint idea that it was related to _him_.

He knew _his_ name now, it was there, in the back of his head, always present.

 _Emi*a Shirou_.

He knew most of the name, he's known it from all the foreign memories now, but even with the name he didn't know the person that it was titled too, nor did he understand why exactly he felt like it was only half of what's going on.

It was too confusing for his head to wrap around it all.

He spotted her, Rem, that is.

"Excuse me," Subaru said to the villager, "I need to talk with Rem."

"Go on ahead, I will not be in your way," the villager said.

Natsuki Subaru walked forward, greeting the blue haired demon girl with a cheerful expression. His right hand raising to wave at her as he approached. "Rem!" He exclaimed towards her.

She turned to face him, "Subaru-kun," she replied with a smile, "You're awake."

"Yeah, woke up not too long ago," Subaru said as he lowered his hand. "Is your sister and the villagers alright? It looks like everything is fine."

"Yes," Rem replied. "Nee-chan is well, she had only been low in magical reserves when arriving back to the mansion."

He breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness…" Subaru trailed off.

Rem pouted, "Nee-chan is going to yell at you for what you did."

The young man scratched his cheek, "Yeah, she'll probably lecture me, kill me, then place a bunch of chores on my shoulders and say I'm perfectly fine."

"Subaru, nee-chan is far more kind than that," Rem said.

He nodded, "Yeah, you're right, I'll probably only die twice."

"Subaru-kun…" She trailed off, but a small smile was on her face.

Subaru laughed, before calming down and a more serious expression took hold. "Rem, did the Witch's Cult attack us last night?"

She shook her head, "No, there have been no incidents since their attack on the evacuating villagers."

"Mmh…" Subaru hummed in thought, "They might strike us again today…" He looked around at the people working about, "We don't have anyone who can deal with all of them."

'And I can't pull off that magecraft again, nearly died the first time, so in this state, it's an absolute I'll return by death next time,' The magus thought to himself.

 _That was the limit of Emi*a Shirou's magical abilities._

Why did that feel like an insult?

"Emilia-san has sent word for Roswaal, but there might be a change the carrier bird is killed while delivering," Rem said.

"Yeah, they could intercept it," He agreed, "But let's hope they don't get lucky."

* * *

Somewhere, a few miles away from Roswaal's domain, a bird rested on the wooden perch of a carriage. A figure read through the contents of a scroll before rolling it back up and placing it aside. The sword on his side gleaned in the sunlight, but an underlying tone lay within it, an anger of some sorts that growled for retribution against an act it deemed offensive.

A small thud could be heard banging from the inside of the carriage, a voice, young and quite loud, yelled, "Look! Are we going to go somewhere or not! I'll rather not be stuck in this fancy carriage all day!"

The figure, a man, frowned in indecision, his eyes gazing toward the direction of where the bird had come from.

"I apologize, but we are making a detour."

With that, he directed the carriage, along with a dozen knights by his side, towards the road leading to Roswaal's domain.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author Note:** Hey everyone, it's your daily dose of Author Notes! Hooray! Yay! Yippie! Wait, what do you mean you don't care about my notes? How dare you, you… you baka! Just kidding! In any case, I'm glad to see the numerous reviews about the chapter and the subject revolving around the Dragon Sword.

As I've stated beforehand, I've only watched the anime and information from the wiki. I've searched many, many times about the Dragon Sword and found no conclusions to its actual power outside of limited information. Heck, some of you guys seem to have your own ideas on what the Dragon Sword could be… Too bad some of the reviews never appeared, fudging Fanfiction messing up again and removing reviews for no good darn reason.

But I guess I can use the fact that due to various reasons in a spoiler I will not discuss in this notes, Subaru hadn't fully 'analyzed' the Dragon Sword. Yes, it has something to do with the fact Subaru didn't have his magic circuits activated yet before arriving at the mansion.

Now, on the to story!

BTW, I had to make this a short chapter, I was getting stuck in terms of how to get to where I wanted. Blame Writer's Block.

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 16: Slow Start

Natsuki Subaru got his ass handed to him.

As in, he lied on the ground writhing in agony as his entire body disagreed with him and screamed at its host to stop doing anything of physical activity. The reason for this come across two different points, one of which was Rem looking at him with concern as a wooden sword was gripped in her hand.

The other would be the burning, numb sensation that occupied the entire left side of his body, and the fried status of his magic circuits. Which would continue to weaken him until a proper healer can be found to restore his circuits to a more bearable state.

If they could find someone that can heal his magic circuits; its uniqueness was something that could not be found anywhere else in this world.

"I believe we should stop, Subaru-kun," Rem said as she kneeled down to check his condition.

"No, ack!" His defiance was met with more pain, "I still have tons of energy!" He replied as he struggled to get back on his feet.

Rem frowned, something she rarely did, "We will not train any further until you have recovered."

"Come on, Rem-rin! Be reasonable!" Subaru attempted to argue.

"I am, until you're healed we will halt our practice. We have also drawn in a crowd," Rem replied.

He suddenly noticed he was surrounded by an audience, was he so ingrained in practice and his own thoughts that he was unaware of them?

He sighed, "Alright, you win," He replied, standing back up on his feet then taking a deep breath to calm his body's senses.

"You should rest, Subaru-kun," She looked at him in concern, and he was almost in agreement, but he felt like he shouldn't just lazy about while everyone else works hard.

 _He was supposed to help them, not the other way around._

Subaru didn't exactly fully agree with that foreign thought. People should help each other, he can't just be the one helping everyone, you can't do that, you can't help everybody.

 _Yes, he can._

 _No, he can't._

The young man grasped his head with his right hand, a splitting ache pounding against his thoughts.

'There it is again, a contradiction of the foreign thoughts…' Subaru thought to himself.

"I'll at least help clean the mansion," Subaru offered a compromise.

Rem frowned at him, clearly not pleased at Subaru's persistence.

'Come on,' Subaru thought, 'It'll get these thoughts to shut up.'

By some miracle, Rem allowed it.

"You can clean up the court, but don't strain yourself," Rem said.

"Thanks," Subaru said.

Natsuki Subaru patted Rem on the head, before making his way to the tool shed. He picked up a broom and started his way around the court by following the outer wall that surrounded the mansion building. This action reminded him of something that he had accomplished on the time he failed to ward off the Witch Cult and returned by death.

"That's right…" He trailed off as he glanced at the walls, "I have reinforced the walls that time… I don't know if it helped much but they did seem forced to go through the entrance."

The Japanese man glanced around, nobody was paying attention to him, all busy around the camp. Subaru placed his right hand against the wall, eyes closing in concentration as he began his chant.

"Trace… On."

The sound of a sword clanging harshly against an anvil echoed in his mind, this time occupied by the sparks created from the clash.

His circuits were fried, no, that was an incorrect way to describe what had occurred to them. What had actually occurred was that he had activated them in such a forceful matter and in such vast quantities that he'd put them into a state of shock. However, because it was actually that and not burning them out, he could still use his Magic Circuits.

He would use them in a safe matter this time, though, he made a promise to Emilia that he wouldn't do something insane like creating a weapon, especially on the volume he had done before. The feeling of pain occupied the usage of his Magic Circuits, in a greater amount than when he usually uses them, but this sensation was not any worse than the time Puck first activated his circuits.

Subaru was sure that if Puck hadn't activated his circuits like he did, then the damage would have been much more considerable.

A single circuit flicked on, beginning the process of channeling od and converting it into prana in which he could use for magecraft.

"Basic composition, analyzed," Subaru said to himself, like an age old mantra that stuck to him, he felt as if Structural Grasp was now a part of him like his own arms and legs.

He could visual the prana covering the wall segment and coating its existence, improving every aspect from the quality of the stone to its state of repair.

It was a fascinating feeling to experience, the usage of magecraft to further improve something in such a short process. He felt rather powerful while doing it, but he knew that in comparison to all other spells he's seen, it was rather a minuscule skill.

"Basic materials, reinforce."

Still, if was perhaps one if not the only skill he was good at. _He was hopeless at everything else, Kir***ug* said so. To*s*ka confirmed it._

Natsuki Subaru cut off the prana, his lone magic circuit returning to a state of dormancy as he released his hand from against the wall.

He sighed, he had failed.

'I know that there is always a chance of failure, but I succeeded in doing these walls before… Is it because I'm injured?' Subaru thought to himself as he stared at his own palm, reflecting upon the recent failure in utilizing magecraft.

'Well, hopefully, Roswal will return before we have more trouble with the cultists.'

He took the broom once more and continued his way to finishing cleaning the outer courtyard.

The sunlight was beginning to dim, there were little to no clouds in the skies above as the life-giving rays began to turn into an orange hue. The surrounding mountains of the mansion brought in shadows much quicker than if the building were constructed upon an open grassland. There was a chill in the air, not one of temperature, but of an ominous pressure that radiated throughout the domain. It was breathtaking in the fact that fear and anxious anticipation plagued the residents and refugees within the mansion's walls, at any moment they could be attacked by the Witch Cult that had hunted them beforehand.

Natsuki Subaru had long since finished whatever chores that Rem, Ram, and Emilia would even consider allowing him to do.

As such, Subaru tried to relax and recover, but it just felt so wrong to sit around and do nothing.

 _He's the Her* of Jus*ice, he had to protect them, not the other way around!_

Suddenly, the door slammed open into his room. In that place was _a small girl with long, snow white hair with a dress of lavender colors._

No, it wasn't, it was Meili.

He ignored the foreign memory., he ignored _Shirou's_ memory.

That was when he took notice of the girl's distraught face.

"Meili-chan, what's the matter?" He asked in concern, fearing the worst that the Witch Cult was once again acting up and decided to attack the mansion.

"Subaru-san, they're back!" Meili yelled.

"Who's back, is it the Witch Cult!?" He questioned in alarm.

"No, the assassins, they're back again. They must be looking for me!" The girl yelled in fear, she closed the door behind her and ran up to Subaru, protectively hiding from the invisible enemy.

"The assassins?" Subaru questioned once more.

This was possibly even worse, now not only did he have to deal with the Witch Cult, but also the assassins that most likely originally planned for Meili to kill the mansion's residents. While he trusted Meili, the group that was after her, and by extension him and everyone else, were not the lot he wished to deal with.

There is a vague hope that perhaps the two groups fought against one another.

 _But such wishful thinking didn't help him in the H**y Gr**l W*r._

Natsuki Subaru agreed with that thought, there was always the even worst scenario that the two groups would team up and attack the mansion.

 _It was unlikely, religious zealots do not engage often on friendly terms with those who think otherwise._

"How do you know they are here, Meili?" Subaru kneeled down to the child's level, looking her in the eyes as he placed two hands on her shoulders.

The young girl pulled down her shirt collar, revealing some sort of sigil carved into her skin. At first glance, it looked a tattoo in the shape of a flower.

He narrowed his eyes, his nose twitching from the ambient prana that churns within the sigil.

Subaru could briefly recall some video game stories where the villain would place something on his minion to keep them in check, the sigil placed upon Meili could be similar in function.

"Does this sigil allow them to pinpoint you?" He asked.

Meili looked down in shame, he was on the point in that matter.

"Yes…" She trailed off, "But it also lets me feel others with them nearby, and while I can't tell where they are I know that they are here!"

"In the mansion?"

Meili shook her head, "I don't think so, Rem-rem is good at detecting people. They probably outside the mansion in the forest or hills."

Subaru ruffled her hair, "Don't worry, we can handle a few assassins. Rem, Ram, and I will protect you. Just stay inside the mansion, alright?"

She shook her head frantically, "No, I will stay with you!"

"Meili, I'm not nearly as strong as the others, why?"

"Cause… Cause…"

"Because of what?" Subaru asked.

"Cause you're my hero."

Subaru paused and smiled at her.

"Okay, don't worry then, as your hero I won't let anyone so much as poke you!" He exclaimed loudly.

 _He would save her, he would save everyone!_


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:** I never died, silly readers. I said got stuck on the last chapter, it has only been a few weeks since the other one before that! You guys and gals must really want this story. But… Considering that we lack in crossovers for ReZero at the moment, I can understand that fact.

As for this chapter… I blame me finally getting Fate/Extra… And playing the shit out of it.

 **:** No, while I do time skips for my other stories, specifically those of long durations such as Be Hybrid (Halo x DBZ). I will not do any for Re:Circuits it is absolutely necessary, discounting the minor skips like a few hours. In any case, Subaru will recover later.

 **Lukap99:** I blame my phone for replacing my typed 'visualize' with 'visual'. I had written portions of the previous chapter with the gdoc app.

Enjoy the chapter everybody!

* * *

Re:Circuits

Chapter 17: Assassin

The moonlit sky shined brightly, decorating the landscape in a luminous glow. In the domain of a powerful noble magic user, the villagers patrolled the mansion grounds in unease. While the building and the surrounding place itself were in the detection range of a pink-haired maid, there were many ways to distract, disable, or outright hide from the sense and those magical in nature. The world had been here for a long time, with many of its denizens learning and expanding upon different styles and spells. But for every new way to detect someone, another counter to it came into being.

The ones who would create such counters could be heroes themselves, even villains, but those most likely delve into the realm of the shadows, the hidden backdoor that opens only when one least expects it, are the ones who create the holes in an individual's vision.

As such, it is of any surprise when one disappears even under the sight of a watcher?

Natsuki Subaru felt an air of caution around him, even as he stood within the mansion itself, cleaning the bath flooring, it did not leave. The young Japanese man couldn't help but tighten his grip on the mop's handle, this subtle reaction wasn't lost on the child that had been watching him moments before.

Indeed, Meili, the child herself fidgeted at every shadow, as if she was expecting them to leap out and drag her into the depths.

"Subaru-san, they're…" Meili trailed off into silence.

Subaru eyed the sheathed weapon, a basic iron sword, from across the room. Inwardly, he scolded himself for relaxing during his chores as now the enemy could be in this very room.

'How did they get into the room without making noise though?' He thought to himself in question, the door hadn't opened and any windows were long since closed off from entrance outside.

Unless they had been in here before both Meili and he had arrived.

But if so, how had this presence now revealed itself until it now.

 _Magecraft that specializes in concealment wasn't uncommon, the use of magic to confuse another's senses could explain the lack of detection._

'No time to think!' Subaru thought to himself.

In that moment, he rushed across the room, bursting with speed as he forced his body to exceed his limits. A few seconds past and his danger senses lit up like a bonfire, his eyes not daring to look elsewhere, only at the iron sword he needed. The sounds of screaming only beginning from Meili.

'Come on, come on!' He reached out, his hand outstretched towards the sheathed weapon that lay carelessly against the wall.

The moment his hand wrapped around its blade, he heaved it around, not even bothering to bring it out of its sheath.

A great force smashed against him, a blade screeching harshly as it collided with his sheathed weapon. He fell backward but quickly recovered as he rolled to the left, avoiding another swipe that surely would've killed him in an instant.

'Damn-!" He yelled as the japanese man recoiled from another blow that he barely managed to parry, his eyes finally catching sight of a figure his size, cloaked in a gray cloak and hood.

He didn't have any time to use magic, reinforcement took some time to do. Natsuki Subaru simply didn't have the skill or practice to use such magecraft so quickly.

Subaru took a risk, and swung horizontally in front of him, causing the assassin to jolt back to avoid his wild swipe. This allowed him to finally unsheathe the weapon fully, his left hand grabbing hold of the sheath and tossing it aside on the ground. Now, both hands firmly gripped on the iron sword's handle, he looked over to his opponent.

'How the hell did I manage to block that…?' He thought to himself.

The assassin held a two-handed great sword in his grip, held to one side while his footing kept him grounded in an easy to maneuver stance. A quick glance back at the now discarded sheath revealed that it had been torn apart in multiple places by the heavy strikes of the assassin's weapon.

A single short iron sword in his hand will do little to nothing in the long run.

"Trace-"

He stepped back as the assassin charged at him, giving him no respite or time necessary to do magecraft.

The amateur magus barely kept up, the instincts honed from repeated deaths, close encounters, and the harsh training lessons with Rem were the only things keeping him from becoming an easy target for the assassin before him. He dared not take even a single look elsewhere, even to check Meili, to do so would leave him open just an inch more which would quickly lead to his imminent demise. He would not die tonight, even if he could return, not everything would occur the same way twice… He had little to no information to work on how to counter the assassin, so returning by death would be fruitless, nothing would or could be accomplished.

He had to deal with the situation now, here, besides he made a promise he intended to keep.

"Gah!" He yelled out in pain as he felt his left side quite burn in agony. Natsuki Subaru ignored it and redirected the great sword away from his vital points.

"Tch," The assassin grunted in annoyance, moving back as Subaru countered with a vertical swing.

"On!" Subaru finished the mantra.

A duo of magic circuits flicked to life within him, the sound of a steel blade clanging against the solid anvil echoed in his mind. As the two magic circuits converted his inner od into a marginal amount of prana to be used in his magecraft.

He didn't have time to reinforce his weapon.

So, he reinforced his body. But the magus had to be cautious, the human body had limits that if surpassed, would implode him from the inside out, causing death instantaneously in a rather unpleasant way.

The assassin moved with almost inhuman speed, but Subaru could keep up. He had already experienced dealing with those with such greater abilities than himself. The assassin's movements were nothing compared to one blessed with the wind.

A collision of metal echoed through the room, sparks flying as the steel blade collided with the greatsword.

His eyes spotted a hidden knife that came right into view, the assassin flicking it towards the girl, Meili, who stood helplessly as the weapon came towards her. Everything ran in slow motion as Subaru's body _just moved on its own._

A piercing noise into flesh, drops of red, life liquid dripping onto the cold marble flooring.

Natsuki Subaru grasped the handle of the knife embedded in his abdomen, his vision blurring for a brief second as pain numbed all across his body. His hold on his weapon gripping tighter as he clenched his teeth, fighting through the pain that threatened to bring darkness over him.

"S-Subaru…" Meili trailed off in shock, she had seen him move so fast, so unbelievably fast for a human not blessed by the planet.

Subaru coughed, blood spitting from his mouth, "Heh… I'm an idiot…" He admitted, "Thinking I can make a difference… Gah… But… If I'm going to die, then damn it I'll take you with me!"

 _He'll protect her! He'll save her from this assassin!_

"Surprised that you're still up," The assassin spoke his first words in this conversation.

Subaru's hand, which gripped the knife handle, pulled out the weapon and threw it on the floor. He placed his hand on the wound… But something was odd, he felt the slippery course of blood, but not the flesh which it should originate from.

"What…?" The assassin said in surprise, clearly he is also taken back by the phenomenal.

Subaru glanced down and finally noticed what exactly was different.

His wound, the open stab wound that should've been there, is not knitted together with countless individual metals, each piece branching off from his uninjured flesh and keeping him from bleeding out like crude pseudo staples.

Subaru, taking note that due to this he wasn't going to die of blood loss anytime soon, took this opportunity of the assassin's distracted stare to conjure up the prana within him.

"Trace on!" He said as his magic circuits hummed with power inside. The prana coursed through him and along with his free arm, the pain felt like someone seared a burning hot iron tool on his insides. He opened his palm, wiping the hand just a bit on his clothes before widening the fingers to grasp an invisible weapon.

He had done this before, Natsuki Subaru had created a weapon before!

This time, however, he was going for a copy of a sword he already held in one hand.

The framework was there, he had the magical energy to fill it in, the blueprint lay clear as day on the forefront of his mind. A blue glow of magical energy came in being on his hand, and he took notice the assassin brought his greatsword swinging at him.

Subaru grasped the ambient prana and moved to parry it by instinct.

A steel blade, with arcs of blue magic coursing through it, deflected the incoming two-handed weapon just in time. Natsuki Subaru stepped forward, ignoring the pain, and sliced with the original sword. This caused the assassin to retreat back.

"Duplication magic?!" The assassin called out in alarm.

"Close enough," Subaru replied, holding a grin at the enemy before him.

But in secret, he was at his limit. Subaru could barely keep himself together, whatever magic that caused him to bind his wounds with oversized staples also caused immeasurable pain to him. Not to mention, his circuits burned from the active use of magecraft when they had yet to fully rest from his overuse of them days ago. This combination of nerve-racking damaging sensations tethered his state of consciousness at the edge, nearly drowning his focus from the assassin before him to the condition of his body.

Yet, he didn't fall, _something drove him_ , he couldn't explain it. It wasn't a feeling or thought, to describe what he felt would be impossible. He didn't fall because _he refused to_ , his body didn't collapse because it subconsciously held itself together. The magic circuits tortured his senses with power yet he casually forwent the pain it caused.

 _It was a desire so deep it felt ingrained in his soul._

But his mind could barely handle it. Natsuki Subaru didn't have the mental aptitude to deal with what was going on with him. All he knew is that it kept him alive, both himself and Meili and that he could comprehend just enough.

Subaru stepped back, allowing him room to maneuver his weapons to an angle which allowed him to parry another strength-filled swing of that greatsword.

The projected weapon in his hand shattered like glass, breaking apart into remnant magical energy that dissipated into the surrounding atmosphere.

He grimaced, the weapon couldn't handle the blow.

No, it was flawed, the magic he accomplished was rushed, hastily-made, and his understanding of the basic composition was pathetic and amateurish.

It fell apart because it was a frail copy made by a magus more third-rate than even the most third-rate magus in existence.

Because of that, he had left himself wide open.

The following swing came after, and Subaru gave it all he had to put his arm strength into the one sword he had. It collided with a resounding metal sound of clashing steel, an echoing snap heard as his original weapon broke in two. The top end of the blade flinging through the air before falling and clanging on the ground.

But, it had defended him from dying in that one attack, if only to stall his life for a few more seconds.

As the assassin whipped around to perform another swing, Subaru couldn't help but wonder.

'What kind of assassin uses a greatsword as their weapon of choice?' He questioned.

Then, when all hope seemed lost, large shards of ice fired away with breakneck speeds, forcing the assassin to abandon his following attack at Subaru's life to save his own.

Subaru turned his head, spotting the person in question who had summoned forth the ice spell.

"Emilia-tan!" He exclaimed in shock.

The half-elf, silver-haired girl didn't look too pleased with the situation. Her face was set in a determination that reminded him back when she had faced off against another assassin in question, one that particular aimed for the stomach.

Subaru hadn't been happier to see a friendly face.

"Subaru, are you alright?" Emilia said in concern as she kept her eyes on the assassin before them.

"I've been better…" He replied, taking notice that Puck was absent. This was most likely due to the spirit's time limit, it is in the midst of night after all. Still, it would be considerably less worrisome if the cat-like spirit could materialize during the night.

Adrenaline still pumped through his pain, although he felt an indescribable amount of pain, he couldn't fathom what he would be feeling without the numbing effect of the biological reaction.

Though, if he had to put a scale down, he would probably come close to the time he died the first time… And against Rem… Bad memories.

"Failure," The assassin said the lone word before he made a run for Meili. But his movements were caught on by Emilia quickly, and the half-elf launched a barrage of ice made chunks directed at the intruder. They fired so quickly that the assassin didn't have any room complete whatever mission he had on hand. As his position was constantly forced onto the defenses, earlier by Subaru, and now by Emilia.

"You can forget about killing Meili! She's under our protection!" Subaru yelled at him. "So get lost!"

He seemed to take his words into account as he twisted his body, dodging an ice missile, and jumped towards the wall, before breaking through the window.

Emilia rushed over and looked over through the window, spotting the rushing distant figure of the assassin that somehow made it safely down before fleeing the premises of the mansion. Since the danger was passed, Emilia turned her attention to Subaru and ran up to him.

Subaru collapsed on his knees, the broken sword falling to the ground. He spotted drops of blood flowing to the ground from his mouth and wounds. He pressed a hand to the still sealed wound, sure it was knitted by metal, but it still caused its own injuries by shredding at the surrounding flesh.

He spotted Emilia going on her knees and mumbling a few spells over him. Subaru felt the pain dim ever so slightly, and he sighed.

"Emilia-tan, you had no idea how glad I am that you arrived when you did."

"I heard a commotion when walking down the hall, it only got louder as I approached and I assumed the worst," Emilia replied.

"Heh, good thing you did… Ouch, ouch!" He exclaimed as he fell to the floor completely, lying down.

"You're always getting hurt," Emilia scolded lightly. She spotted his injury, "Did… How did you seal this?"

"Don't know, but I think it's going to vanish soon as you continue giving me some hit points back... " Subaru joked mildly, even if the reference was lost on the girl he found some humor in it.

True to his word, the overcompensated metal band-aid vanished into motes of light. This allowed Emilia to heal the wound over.

Meili rushed over, "Subaru-san, you… You and Emilia-san beat him!"

"I could put it into different words, ouch!" Subaru said he felt as if his body was paralyzed by the injuries. "I wish healing was an instant effect."

"Nothing could be that simple, Subaru-san," Emilia stated.

"You're going to scold me so much after this, but it'll be worth every word if it's from you!" Subaru yelled in positivity.

"Perhaps I should get Ram to do it then?"

"No, please don't! She'll actually mean every word she will say! Which will include ending my life prematurely!"

"Then stop being so foolish and getting into trouble so often…" Emilia trailed off as she smiled, "You try so hard to help us, please, let us help you too."

Subaru remained silent for a moment, "You're right… I can't do this on my own, I never could." He nodded in acceptance. "I should get help from you, and everyone."

"We're here, all of us," Emilia said.

Meili patted Subaru's shoulder, "Yeah, me too! I can help!"

"Ouch, ouch!" Subaru hissed in pain.

"S-sorry, Subaru-san!" The child apologized.

"It's fine… And you're right, both of you. Together, things will be different."

Together, they can beat both the assassin's guild and the fanatic witch cult.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note** : Apologies for the scare with that 'Abandoned' notice! I'm feeling much more confident for ReCircuits now. I hope you enjoy this chapter as I've had to completely scratch the last one and wrote this from nothing. If the quality seems a bit downgraded since the previous chapter, don't hold it against me, still trying to get back into writing this… Not to mention it's short… I'm trying okay!?

P.S. If you wish to Review, it may happen that FF says you already reviewed this chapter (I deleted the Note pages.) In which case, simply use Guest (With your Account name as the nickname) to review! Thank you!

Enjoy the chapter everybody!

* * *

Re: Circuits

Chapter 18: Silent Break

 _It was dark, cold and dark, the nightly hours have reached their peak and the moon hung overhead, illuminating the midnight time with a dim light. He stumbled, hand clutching his heart, a stain of crimson red blood against the brown school uniform. His mind racing, confusing thoughts and images passing through it._

 _Silver and Iron to the Origin._

 _ **A pull.**_

 _There was barely any sense to it, the two he had seen were not humans, no human could fight in a league like that. Then, the bell rang, a warning placed in the Bounded Field. His heart raced again as if remembering the sensation that it had gone through. He dodged._

 _Gem and the Archduke of Contracts to the Cornerstone_

 _ **He knew this sensation, all those like him knew it.**_

 _A man in blue tights, holding a spear that made his hairs stand, the feeling of death choking the air. But he refused it. He had died before. Only to be saved again. He avoided the man's following attack, reinforcing an object he had obtained earlier in his dodge roll to parry the spear._

 _The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg._

 _ **It was an opportunity any would take, that they all yearned for. Even himself.**_

 _He broke through the window, pain greeting bits of his flesh from sharp, broken glass. But it allowed him time to avoid another attack, he needed a better weapon, he knew where to go._

 _The alighted wind becomes a wall._

 _ **A connection, not from there, but from here, from him. A catalyst.**_

 _The shed, he had to reach his workshop, it could provide something, anything to give him a chance. He ran for it, pushing his body, this was nothing, he could do this._

 _The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate._

 _Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill)._

 _Repeat every five times.  
Simply, shatter once filled._

 _ **It increased, the bond was being forged, contracted his body is copied by magic, sent across from the Throne.**_

 _He stumbled into the shed, knocking down the door, his instincts screamed and he opened the makeshift weapon wide, which promptly exploded as it collided with the spear tip, now completely destroyed._

―――― _I announce.  
Your self is under me, my fate is in your sword._

 _In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer._

 _ **He shall answer, and in this, gain a chance, ever so slim.**_

 _He collapsed on the floor, the man stood over him at the doorway. He gripped his chest, resolute, he couldn't die here. Not yet, not when he had just been given another chance to accomplish his dream! To fulfill the desire his father had given unto him!_

 _Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead._

 _ **To prevent the mistake that would give rise to him!**_

 _He felt his hand burn, he shouted in defiance, he would not disappear here. He wouldn't die here! Not to this guy!_

 _You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!_

 _ **Vision wavered, the sound of an explosion? No, crashing, he crashed into a room. He heard something else, the sound of feet rushing up wooden stairs, the door opened, revealing a female teenager, a magus no doubt, garbed in red and black, how familiar she was, how nostalgic she felt.**_

 _She appeared, a swipe coming towards the man who retreated out. She turned, his eyes met hers. She was beautiful. The most beautiful, regal person he ever saw. She opened her mouth, looking down at him._

" _-I ask of you. Are you my master?"_

* * *

Natsuki Subaru woke up with a jolt, sweat dripping down from his forehead, his eyes darting around the room for a moment before he calmed down in the realization that it was just a dream. He took a minute to collect himself, the normally occupied feeling of drowsiness having vanished quickly in his awakening in favor of the rush of adrenaline. He took note of the early morning, and grimaced, a hand placed on his body and checking for injuries, but found none.

"Alright… Emilia healed me, and I rested for the night…" He remarked of the previous day's events. Subaru decided to quickly investigate his magic circuits, focusing inward and determining their current state he discovered them no more strained and overused than they had been since the incident in the evacuation.

Which surprised him, as he used the same type of magecraft yesterday in defense of Meili.

 _Projection magecraft. Tracing._

"Mhm, maybe it's because I didn't project a magical sword this time? That would cost a whole lot more than a mundane one…" He trailed off in his words.

Perhaps that was the limit of his ability? He could use Projection magecraft combined with Reinforcement to create weapons of non-magical nature without risk of overburdening his magic circuits or potentially killing himself in the process.

"Gah!" He ruffled his own hair in frustration. "Magecraft seems to always have some way to kill me!"

The only exception being Structural Analysis, and that's only because he hadn't discovered how that spell could kill him either!

It's like magecraft purposely decided to bring him closer to Return by Death.

 _After all, to be a magus is to walk with death_.

He clutched his head, "Calm down… Voice in the back of my head… Sheesh…" he groaned as he went into thought.

It was getting worse.

These, 'memories', for the lack of a better way to describe them, were more than what their namesake implied. Memories don't give out advice, make cynical remarks, or contain the sheer willpower to influence his body to react as it did yesterday. Subaru noticed it, hard not to, his own body had moved against his wishes and refused to quit when it was clear he should have died yesterday.

Not that he didn't appreciate not dying, but the ramifications were obvious.

Shirou, as Natsuki Subaru had come to know these memories by, didn't think normally. He was obsessed, borderline obsessed, no, way overly obsessed with _saving_ anyone and everyone. Shirou wanted to be a _hero_ , but it more than just wanting to be a _hero_ , it was a _Hero of Justice_ that Shirou desired to become.

But Subaru knew that being a hero was easier said than done, he himself thought naively that he was the chosen hero destined to save the world before dying repeatedly as reality shoved facts right into his face.

And that's only from Shirou, not the other set of memories that were similar yet vastly different.

There are so many things that could go wrong, he's played enough video games and seen enough shows to know that having somebody else's memories is just asking for trouble!

Having two is even worse!

He can't catch a break… But… He did appreciate the knowledge that comes with it in relation to magecraft. It allowed him to accomplish actions that would otherwise be useless for… Without dying over and over to gain information multiple times.

Natsuki Subaru left the bedside and changed into a clean uniform, deciding that he'll have time later to worry about such things, and left the room. The Witch Cult and Assassins seemed to be at odds with one another, which would explain why neither side had directly struck against the mansion. If they could just not do so for another day or two, Roswaal would return and eliminate them, he hoped.

That guy was incredibly powerful, Subaru was sure he would take care of the problem.

"Subaru, good morning," Rem greeted him.

"Ah! Rem!" Subaru answered cheerfully. "Good morning to you too! How's everyone so far? And you?"

She smiled at him, her blue hair wavering a bit as her head moved, "Everyone is doing well, though anxious. I'm fine… Thank you for asking."

"Good to hear," He replied. "Any news on Roswaal?"

She shook her head. "I haven't heard anything."

"I'm sure he's fine," Subaru reassured before a thought came up. "Hey, Ram can't use Clairvoyance to detect foes before they arrive at the mansion?"

"Mostly," Rem replied. "It's limited in that it has to borrow the vision of nearby living creatures in the area of the same wavelength. You just don't have to be in that range to avoid it."

"So… Say that all the animals were scared off before you made your move…" He trailed off as his eyes widened.

Rem blinked, "Then Clairvoyance wouldn't be able to detect them," She responded, before taking notice of his sudden silence. The girl glanced towards the direction he was facing to see the forests through the window, in a trail of birds flocking out of them.

"Never a good sign," Subaru said, "Might be nothing, could be the enemy, we should warn everyone nonetheless!" He exclaimed as he rushed back into his room, grabbed the sheathed sword against the wall, and ran out. Rem followed the young man as the first thing he did was go to Emilia's room, opening the door and making the half-elf look at them in surprise.

"Birds suddenly flocked out of the woods," Subaru said. "I got a feeling they're about to make our move."

Emilia got up, Puck appeared on her shoulder, "We should get the villagers inside!"

"Rem?" Subaru stated.

The blue-haired demon nodded, "Right." She turned and jogged off down the hall, leading to the mansion's entrance.

Subaru turned to Emilia, who seemed ready to go warn them as well, he raised a hand, his face holding a serious expression. "Emilia-tan, I don't want you out there."

"But I-"

"You need to stay above the stairway and shoot any bastards that come in after the villagers," He interrupted. "With you and Puck, those guys won't stand a chance against a barrage of icicles!"

She paused, looking at Subaru, Puck nodded in agreement, saying, "I agree, easier to shoot them in through a chokepoint."

"I… I will! What are you going to do?" Emilia asked.

"Well, first I'll find Ram…" He trailed off. "Pretty sure she's already aware, knowing her, but can't be too careful… Then… I'll help Rem hold them off then retreat back in here."

"Subaru, you have already been injured so many times."

"Good thing you're an angelic healer then!" He remarked. "But seriously, I'll fall back if I'm out of my league. At the moment though, the bastards will have to face a demon and a third-rate unlike any before…" Subaru grinned optimistically, giving her a thumbs up. "Don't worry, Emilia! I made a promise and learned my lesson on trying to handle things alone. Now, you need to learn that too! You can rely on me, on all of us!"

He turned around, stepping away from the door and towards the mansion doorway to lead to the outside, Emilia followed him briefly. Natsuki Subaru grinned at her one last time before facing completely towards the direction he aimed to leave.

The echoing sounds of a blade clashing against an anvil resonated in his mind.

A duo of magic circuits flared to life within.

"Here goes…" He trailed off, gripping the handle of the sword. "This time… Things will be vastly different…"

A deep breath.

"Trace, On."


End file.
